Ars Moriendi
by Pardra
Summary: Neither Zero nor X can catch a break. X has an extremely unfortunate day, and Zero winds up getting some scrutiny as a result.
1. Chapter 1

Ars Moriendi

His name was Acetic Gekkota. He had been an extremely efficient overseer and producer of chemicals at a military industrial plant, until he had been reassigned for "borderline Irregular behavior".

"Think he's angry about being re-assigned to the glue factory?" Snarked Zero as they surveyed the decidedly _melted_-looking wall of said adhesive plant.

Well...glue was important, too...

"Looks like it," X sighed, scanning the area for workers, or civilians...or Mavericks. "I guess he's moved on?"

"Yeah," Zero planted his left hand on his hip and looked put out. "I thought HQ had this guy's position down."

"Would you like to put down in a puddle of acid next time?" The voice of Zero's Operator came over the network, flat and intolerant.

Zero grimaced and shot a look at his friend. Zero and his long-term Operator didn't cooperate well, and, X wasn't sure, but he thought it had something to do with her having had a near-obsession with Zero and having to watch him flirt with every non-Maverick female in range. She was the spiteful type usually found in comedy media- but there was nothing funny about her bias against Zero. It had only taken a week of working with her- Era - before Zero was requesting her replacement from Signas. X had been amused then, and thought perhaps it was time for a woman to bring his head down to a more agreeable size. But when they had started collaborating on missions, X noticed that Zero began hanging back and letting X lead, and that he spent rest time staring into middle space looking flustered- ZERO, FLUSTERED! Then, X had undertaken haranguing Signas himself- while his friend was occupied, of course- suggesting that her behavior was unstable.

Nothing could come of their unknowingly (On Zero's part) combined efforts: there WERE no replacement Operators, and most were already pulling double duty.

Agitated, X replied," There's no need for that, Era." And spoke in a more pleasant tone to his friend. "We'll find him ourselves, Zero."

"North from where you are." Alia piped up, trying to hide a clipped tone.

Zero almost looked nervous, and spat out incredulously, "She put us down with our _backs to_ _the Maverick_? Is she trying to kill us!"

I wonder. X thought grumpily, as something- a vehicle - exploded behind them. "So I hear, Alia."

The Irregular was perched on the high roof of a municipal building, spitting brilliant and well-aimed streams of what was most likely acid at leisure onto the streets below. Zero was off in a flurry of red armor and flying gold mane, his movements jerking with eager aggression. X followed behind at a warier pace.

"Remember: Don't shoot, let Zero take this one." Alia cautioned before cutting the feed and any distractions.

Acetic Gekkota's internal composition was extremely volatile. He hadn't been designed as a combat Reploid; he had enormous E-Tanks situated near various chemical reserves: Tiniest spark from the fusion generator- the heart - or nervous system wiring could theoretically engulf an entire block in the explosion.

As a combat Reploid, Acetic Gekkota was a kamikaze, and all X could do was don the bright, Easter-hued Shotgun Ice weapon and pester the thing! Frustrating, but he could trust Zero to be at least more caution than usual when facing a nearly nuclear enemy.

Zero scaled the municipal building first; X could feel his lips thin in a smile as he watched him: With his thick brush of hair waving behind him, Zero looked like a giant blonde squirrel, but he liked his head where it was so he'd keep this little revelation to himself...

His friend wasn't the kind to attempt talking a Maverick out of fighting, X could hear the hum of Zero's sabre, and the deep gurgling laugh of Acetic Gekkota before he cleared the lip of the building. Tensing his haunches, X gave a powerful kick against the architrave and flew up the remaining five feet to perch on the eave in a crouch. He almost lost his balance as Zero let out a bark of pain.

Zero had tried to pierce the thick purple and teal armor directly behind the Irregular's heart. He succeeded in scoring a thin scrape across it, but the blade had bounced off and flung a spray of acid from the oozing shafts of the spines running along Acetic Gekkota's back. X winced sympathetically as Zero retreated to stand near him, exchanging his sabre hilt from one hand to the other as he tried to fling the pain away; the formerly pristine gloves were smoking and speckled black.

Acetic Gekkota turned his attention their way. Minus the steaming spines, and acid armor, he wasn't the most threatening Irregular X had ever seen. Huge tawny eyes, a flat, blunt, wide head, and tail, and feet. The killing effect was the pink tongue lolling from his mouth: The Maverick was cute.

X promptly shot him in the face.

Zero was oblivious to X's bemusement, and, the moment Acetic Gekkota froze into a hissing block of ice began herding X toward a separate rooftop, sectioned into a square rather than the main roof's stately rectangle. "There. Now."

X resisted, looking over his shoulder at the Crimson Hunter. "Zero, I'm here to help you take him down. Maybe I can't engage him directly but I can still distract him- I'm not a rookie, Zero! I won't be in the way!"

Zero responded with a slow shake of his head and gave him another shove. "I KNOW that, X. Just stay over here so I don't have to worry about you losing your face if that Irregular starts jumping around throwing acid; you can still hit him from over there."

That was true, but X would be worrying about the same happening to Zero and being too far away to prevent it the entire time. Still, X knew he could argue till he was blue in the face- and subsequently, all-over -and Zero wouldn't change his mind, so he jumped the four meter gap. The ice prison cracked before he even landed. He turned to see Acetic Gekkota vomit acid onto the roof, with Zero leaping frantically away- and into - X's line of fire. The corrosive ate through the concrete in a matter of moments, and X couldn't help but be grateful Zero had forced him to move: Three Reploids dodging and weaving through acid and beam sabers and flying ice wasn't a pretty picture.

The red Hunter pounced for Acetic Gekkota's chest armor, trying a more direct route for the fusion generator, but recoiled as the Maverick snapped at him, mouth dripping ropes of sinister saliva. If he'd followed through, that would have been the end of Zero's right forearm.

Now Zero was mad, darting in to harry the Irregular's purple-speckled hide with a flurry of light blows, raining down on the scrape he'd inflicted earlier- until the spined back was turned to X.

Taking queue, X fired a shot of ice at Acetic Gekkota's tail, startling him into whirling to face his distanced opponent. The wide mouth gaped and neon green welled inside; X was one spit away from "losing his face". The Irregular never got to spit, though, and the thick corrosive bubbled down onto his chest, striking the eager green fang of Zero's sabre sunk into the Irregular's thick outer shell, protruding from the torsal center.

The pitted metal, spurting acid over crevices and dripping, steaming, onto the concrete, split with an explosive hiss of corrosive vapors and armor. Bits of Maverick rained down onto the rooftop nearest the source like fiery hail.

X hissed in fear; the concussive blast had nearly taken his legs out from under him and he was ten meters away, how had Zero fared? Squinting around the glare from the fireball that was all that remained of Acetic Gekkota, X scanned the adjacent rooftop for his friend, calling for him over the roar of flames. Had Zero pierced the fusion generator and ignited the E-Tanks? That would be ironic, since the Hunter's precision weapon was why Zero had been chosen for this mission, so the over-sized energy reserves wouldn't explode.

Just as X was beginning to worry, a familiar silhouette appeared in the cloud of smoke and Zero yelled: "I'm fine X!" With an abashed undertone to his voice, so uncharacteristic of his friend that X's grasp on protocol slipped momentarily. Then he held his left hand to that side of his helmet and sent across the network: "We're through Alia."

He was almost reluctant to call in, knowing how Zero would be reprimanded and how embarrassed he already was. X's eyes cut to his friend now that he was free from smoke, to reassure himself Zero wasn't missing any valuable pieces. Zero looked... crispy, and was currently trying to bat out a flame that was attempting to take hold in his hair, coughing all the while. But crispy was better than melted- though his gauntlets looked sorry.

X's critical scanning was interrupted by a relieved Alia, her Operator gear cutting through wave interference and coming through more loudly than he had. "Ah, there you are. Zero called in a minute ago; come back when you're done there."

X noticed a tense silence from where Zero stood, an entire building away, and wondered if his miscalculation was disturbing Zero enough that he was actually willing to admit it. But when he saw the look on Zero's face, horror written in the slack lines of his face as he stared at the fireball- SCANNING it - that this had nothing to do with the emotional result of Zero's failure. Zero screamed out a warning and leapt for X's rooftop as the hulk of metal in the flames began to click and whine.

Zero, his face grim, looked at the volatile mass, his hand on X's arm dragging him forcefully from the site. Already, X's sensors registered Zero's body tuning for warp, and could feel his grip becoming far less substantial.

"That was only one tank. X we need to teleport to HQ-"

A piece of shrapnel screamed past X's head, clipping his helmet and sending pain singing through him. Startled and pained, the Hunter leapt closer to the edge of the roof and staggered. His vision was unfocused, vibrating, his sense of smell and hearing alternated between muffled and overwhelming, and the world spun in a sickening array of color and light: something was loose up there. Panic lunged up through his gut, something was _wrong_, he turned his attention inward and instantly a warning screen popped up glaring red.

The loss of vision and balance were bad, but he'd just lost his targeting system, the system responsible for teleportation.

"Zero!" X flung out an arm clumsy with terror, but he knew Zero was already safe back at HQ. So this was it: He was going to die trapped on a roof, blind, hurting, without equilibrium- basically as helpless as a human child. The whine from the Irregular's body crescendoed into a jet's scream. It was blowing _now_.

X tried to flee. He would have a better survival rate from a fall from the building than from the explosion- but where was the _edge_? Hadn't he been close to it? Was he moving the wrong way? Backwards? Closer to the danger? Was he even standing? X was terrified, pantingwith it like a cat in a cage. And that's where he was: in a cage. But the cage was his own body, his senses.

He wanted to curl up and cover his head, but he couldn't identify his limbs. He wanted Zero to come back, to try and save him- but, then, he didn't because then Zero would die too. He had this ridiculous urge to scream for Dr. Light. But none of that would help, because the heat of the explosion was crawling over him like hot sand- or was it cold? He was dying, and all he could think of was when Zero had died, his guilt over his friend's death, over his helplessness to stop it. That horrible disease of emotions, the depression, and now he was inflicting that on someone else.

Zero, I'm _sorry_.

And then he was too tired to care about dying...


	2. What Happened?

WARNING(S): None. Some mention of death, no blood, no violence.

Pairings: None.

AN: Sorry this took so long guys, the plot kept wanting to change every time I worked on it, then I swapped computers and lost the original file….And lately I haven't wanted to do _anything, _including write. Sorry it's short. I'll try to finish plotting the fic, and the next chapter will be longer.

0-X-0

Ars Moriendi  
>Chapter 2<p>

What Happened?

The pre-shock of the blast rattled his teeth the instant before he locked on to the Hunters' satellite and dissolved into a stream of red, and they still ached after he materialized. But there was something different now, as he felt particles of himself slide back together; something was terribly, terribly wrong. Multiple things were wrong.

Zero knew the moment he hit the ground at HQ that his hair was on fire. Alia screaming—"Put it out! Put it out!"—only cemented the horrifying idea. Fascinated

Holy Asimov, his hair was on _fire! _His _hair_—he'd end up bald like his father and X would probably laugh at him. No, X wouldn't _laugh_. X was too kind to laugh at his misfortune, but he would think it was funny, deep down, and Zero shuddered at the thought of his own appearance becoming amusing… Especially if X was the one who found him amusing.

Zero leapt up and began clawing at his blazing mane, wishing that his saber had a water-spewing attack like X's buster, but sabers don't spit water. "_X, put it out!"_

"Hang on, Zero!" Alia yelled, sounding closer than before, and more determined than desperate.

He knew the water was coming, but not the armor-denting pressure behind it that caused his left knee to dip. The stream slammed into the back of his head, just underneath the helmet, with enough force to momentarily confuse him. Zero yowled Alia's name in protest, and thank Light, she turned the hose off. He stumbled off the landing pad, his hair—sopping and thoroughly disheveled—stuck to the body armor on the backs of his thighs; she couldn't save all of his hair though, the terrible smell of burnt (reploid) hair overwhelmed his nose. He stood near the launch station, with a forearm planted on the computer near Layer's seat, and panted. 

He wasn't just ruffled from the hosing down, the explosion had rattled him. For all the wars and fights and deaths he'd been through, _that_ had shaken him up—"Zero!"—_ Staring down an explosion that could take out a city block—or a tall municipal building—would_ "Zero!"—_shake anyone up!_ He reassured himself. He only hoped X was alright—and had a good excuse for not putting his hair out.  
>He ignored Alia for the moment—he wasn't ready to deal with the questions of <em>why exactly did the Irregular blow up? <em>And _go report to the Commander. _Feeling more in control, Zero straightened his spine and let out a bark that was more nervous than amused, "That was a close one, X... X?"

Just as Zero was turning in consternation, his bicep was clamped in an iron hold, "Zero! Where is X?" Alia shook him as she queried fiercely through her gritted teeth.

He stared down at her in confusion. _What? No… _Zero spun around so quickly that Alia was flung brusquely against the Nav station. He cast his eyes across the landing pad: It was bare of anything but water, and extinguisher drones, and water pooled against the pad's bright red veins. No blue armor; no X.

The Crimson Hunter had a momentary lapse in processor function as the situation registered—X was not there, which meant that X had not been pulled along with him, which meant X was probably dead.

"Zero!" Alia had numbed the pain receptors in her left side and pushed off the Nav workplace, Layer and Pallette standing uncertainly behind her.

The blonde android turned to face her, his face stunned and frightened. There was a sick knot of fear in his gut; she was looking at him like… Surely she didn't think he'd just left him there? Hadn't they seen the passenger readout as he locked them onto HQ's satellite?

"A-Alia, I...I don't understand it, I had hold of his arm when the blast hit—I was holding his arm as I was digitizing, I know it! The base's is working—I didn't get here under my own targeting systems or I would have landed in my quarters—it should have accepted X, too! He should _be here_, Alia!"

Alia reared back in fear as he spoke, either from his words or his close fervor, her eyes wide. "Zero... is he dead? The blast was so close to the two of you."

Zero fixed her with a sharp look to silence her. "No. No, he isn't—Layer," He addressed his former Nav. Layer jumped to attention, her solemn eyes peering at him from between purple bangs.

"Yes, Zero?"

"Layer," He gestured to the console at her station. "You stay there and hold the pad open for passengers manually; the computer obviously has a glitch so someone needs to get on that," Palette nodded and darted back into the station and presumably to the War Room.

"I've called a technician and, and a retrieval team, they should be arriving any minute now," came Era's voice over the PA, surprising them all with her sudden helpfulness, followed by a muted "What happened?!" from Signas.

Zero just shook his head, face hardening, "That's not soon enough."

Blatantly ignoring Signas and the others, Zero reached for his targeting systems again, focusing on a satellite somewhere above the upper states of NA. "I'm going back for X."

He was gone before Alia even thought to lunge for his arm. 

00XX00

Zero had scarcely materialized when a chunk of fiery municipal building plummeted into the road in front of him. Zero leapt back with a hiss. _Ok, maybe this was too close._

Above him, the stately municipal building was a smoking mass of flame and falling stone. Zero shielded his mouth and nose with his arms to keep the ash out of his respiratory system; having ash pumped from your lungs wasn't a great way to end a horrific day.

Zero activated his scanners as he dashed around the pitted highway. The city had been evacuated—or at least the blocks nearest the factory-so there was no time wasted on rescuing stubborn civilians. If they were stupid enough to still be here they weren't even worth rescuing.

"Commander Zero!" Zero, distracted by the sudden bark, was nearly flattened by a particularly large chunk of stone. He turned to bark at the man who had almost gotten him killed, but the sight of the enraged, burly medic stopped him. "Commander Zero, you are to leave this to the medics!"

Zero opened his mouth to argue that he was perfectly capable of finding X and that the medic should _stand down_ but the light pole crashing down near him was understandably distracting. He swore and leapt away, nearly bowling over a smaller medic, but he managed to snag them by the elbow and steady them.

"Commander Zero, please, this is for X's own good. If he's hurt we can't have you accidentally mistreating him!" The first medic yelled.

What did this medic think he was? Some sort of ham-handed, half-witted—It took the _finesse_ of a surgeon to obtain his level of swordsmanship.

"Commander Zero, you were _ordered_ to return."

He twitched at that. Even Signas didn't trust him in this? He'd done retrieval missions before, even if this one was impromptu. He opened his mouth to deliver a scathing retort—

"We've got him!"

The brim of the netted olive helmet inched upward as the Met inside looked around. _Finally! _He grinned and took aim at the tiny mechaniloid and—

An alarm went off in his processor just as he was about to take the shot. Axl clicked the safety on and lowered the weapon as he opens the message. His stomach jumped as he realized what it was.

It was a status alert from HQ.

Axl had tagged certain names in the HQ database with status queries so he could keep an ear out for those Reploids: _Without_ pestering Alia or Pallette every five minutes, when he was bored and waiting for someone to come back to HQ. It had to be Zero. He'd gone off to waste that Gekota Maverick this morning and there was no way a non-combat Reploid could take up longer than an hour of the Crimson Hunter's time. Maybe they could go catch a movie or something when they met up—

The alert popped up in his HUD. "Huh? Wait a minute..." There was something funny about that alert. Axl opened the file—and it was all outlined in stern, foreboding red.

CLASSIFIED.

Classified, a synonym for dead, or any other number of ugly things, put discreetly. 

What…had happened?


	3. Waiting and Disappointment

WARNING(S): Some mention of death and violence and that's about all.

Pairings: None.

AN: Oh, look another update.

00X00

Ars Moriendi

Chapter 3

Waiting and Disappointment

Axl's stomach felt like it was full of lead—the low grade kind they put in pencils—and had sunk somewhere down near his thrusters. He holstered his gun and locked his systems on to HQ. The instant it took for his off-duty signature to get clearance felt like it was dragging, and his legs twitched as he fought the urge to _move_. But finally the connection was made and within a few moments Axl was standing on the landing pad...in the Maintenance Bay? 

He looked around at the diminutive teleportation pad, maybe large enough for a fully humanoid Unit of his stature or X's. Why had he been rerouted? Was the teleporter pad undergoing maintenance or was it a more serious reason? 

_Like a room full of EMTs and blood, red armor, and blond hair_, he thought, then he shivered at the mental image that accompanied it.

Axl swallowed nervously as he exited the niche into the hallway overlooking the Bay. The floor below was filled with sparks and the smell of oil and hot metal stuck to the air. There were other Hunters around, looking bewildered and scared. Axl couldn't blame them. They would have been notified of scheduled or unscheduled maintenance, and the only other time Reploids got rerouted was if there was massive carnage in the pad—like a whole Unit coming back crushed. 

Or, if someone was dead and Signas didn't want the base to _know_ he was dead. Depressed reploids in the strategy room are hard to cover up. The ones manning the teleporter didn't even have tinting windows to hide them. 

Axl scattered the small clusters of reploids as he burst through them, leaving them shouting in indignation. He didn't even give them a friendly wave of acknowledgement. 

_How can they just stand around waiting for an announcement?! Don't they want to know what's going on?_

The teleport pad wasn't far from the maintenance bay, he'd... query X! _Yes, X'll know; he knows everything and Signas would give him clearance even if he wasn't a Commander!_

A probe was sent out immediately for X's signature...and it bounced off an HQ warning with familiar red letters: CLASSIFIED. Classified? Why was X under HQ firewalls? He couldn't sense the old android at all….

X and Zero were partners; had X tagged along to ensure Zero's success? It was impossible to tag-team a volatile Maverick like Gekota, any misstep ended in an explosion. Would….would X have been the distraction? And if he had been the distraction, could— 

_It's a mistake_. X didn't get hurt. X was sensible and calm and wary, and he didn't get hurt. And he didn't die. It was OK for Zero to die because nothing could_ really_ kill him. People had tried. 

Axl sent out a query to Zero through the comm link. This one was half-accepted before the recipient realized what he was doing and shoved Axl away. This proved that not only was X probably in trouble but Zero apparently wasn't. He might have been anxious but that didn't stop him from feeling flustered with Zero. He was trying to get answers but Zero didn't want to talk, and he couldn't go to Signas for answers because Signas would probably ban him from prying. Well, he knew where Zero was: And where Zero was X couldn't be far away. 

Other Hunters seemed to be expecting something terrible, too. The net was stilted with CLASSIFIED chatter, and it didn't take more than a minute of restricted comm to make people worry. 

As Axl was making his way toward the location he'd pinned on Zero—which was outside the ORs if his gut feeling and location where correct—he noticed the Lifesavers seemed (more) agitated. Lifesaver and his clones were usually steady, facing down scowling Zero and relentlessly pestering Signas to have Zero _confined_. He was either stupid, or one fearless Reploid, and either way, Axl was intimidated by them. Only X seemed able to converse freely (and grudgelessly) with the medic. 

Only Lifesaver didn't seem so fearless now.

Axl was careful to avoid bumping into them, partially because they didn't seem to be paying attention and partially because they were twice his size and he didn't want to end up as an Axl-pancake. Once he'd pushed through the swarm of med-units, he found the older Hunter. 

Zero was slumped in an uncomfortable chair in the hall outside the OR. His dark blue eyes stared through the floor, and he looked so haunted that Axl knew it was as bad as he'd feared, probably worse. 

"Zero?" Axl hardly recognized his own voice, it was so hoarse. Was…was X dead? 

The blond didn't unslump, but his optics lifted from the floor to the young Reploid's face, "Axl, you got an alert?" 

He nodded, "I came as soon as I could." Which suddenly didn't feel like soon enough. 

Zero sighed and, even though it was impossible, suddenly he looked aged. There was blood and, ash, and black speckles of burns across Zero's gloves, standing out against the normally squeaky clean white. Had he seriously not come soon enough?

"Zero?" He began cautiously. "Zero, what happened?"

Zero didn't answer right away, turning his hands upward as if he was looking for something on them, "I missed. I hit Gekota's fusion generator and he went off like a bomb." Given what he'd learned of this particular Maverick, that's essentially what he was. "X got hurt and couldn't focus to teleport, so I grabbed him and warped back to the pad." Zero's voice was louder now, full of frustration and anger. "Except when I re-materialized, X wasn't there. For some reason he wasn't granted access."

To carry a passenger back to base, the reploid doing the teleporting had to send an alert to HQ's computers, otherwise they were rejected. Was Zero saying he'd forgotten to do that? And that X had…

"Zero, is X…?" He couldn't finish that sentence, but there was no real reason to, after all. Zero knew exactly what he meant.

The larger reploid inhaled deeply, the stutter in his intake telling Axl he was close to losing it. "I don't know. I tried to go ahead of the retrieval team but I didn't find him. I haven't even seen him since..."

Axl hovered there in the hallway, unsure of how to deal with how he felt. Angry at Zero, guilty at being angry at Zero, frustrated because he felt guilty at feeling angry at Zero, scared because he didn't know what was going on in that OR, and sad because X might be d—

Axl paced to a chair on Zero's left—leaving one empty space between them—and sat down. "I guess we'll be waiting a while, then."

There was a silence between them, tense as a strung wire. Axl had nothing to say to lighten the mood, and Zero felt like a volcano about to erupt, shaking with restrained emotion. Axl was afraid he'd jump up at any minute and start throwing things through the wall, and then he'd be banned from the Medbay and then he'd be _angrier_ and then there would be repairs to the training sims.

After almost an hour, he did eventually run back to his quarters to change into civilian clothes once the discomfort—of sitting next to Zero waiting to see if their friend was dead, not from the armor—but when he returned fifteen minutes later, Zero wasn't there.

He checked the surrounding hallways, the break room, the wash rooms—the older Hunter was nowhere to be seen. Axl wandered back to the waiting area and began walking about slowly. Surely Zero wouldn't just _leave? _But, nearly ten minutes later, he had to admit that the possibility seemed likely.

_Zero, why would you _do_ that?_ Axl ran a hand through his unruly auburn hair and finally flopped down into a seat.

He'd barely settled, drawing his legs up into his seat and crossing them, when a voice called, "Axl!"

He jumped and looked up to see Alia walking swiftly toward him. Her hair looked messy, strands flying freely behind her. Seemed like she was finally off-duty.

The Navigator stood next to him, her face anxious, "Has there been any news?"

"No, but—"

"You're still here, Axl?" Came Lifesaver's voice, echoing from down the hall as he approached. "I told Zero to tell you to go get some sleep."

"What?!" He shouted, jumping to his feet and nearly bumping his head on Alia's chin. "He left! Without a word!"

Oh now he was miffed.

Lifesaver looked nonplussed, "Well, he was supposed to tell you to go get some sleep. There's no point in you two waiting here all night. I can't give you Commander X's status update yet, but regardless of what happens you won't be allowed in to see him until later tomorrow." His voice left no room for argument, but Axl still wanted to try.

"Why?!"

"Because guidelines, now go back to your quarters," the medic quipped, turning on his heel and marching away.

Axl stared after him, face twisting into a sour expression. Alia put a hand on his shoulder, "Zero left you here?"

"Yes!" He exploded, flinging his arms into the air. "I was waiting here alone for nearly thirty minutes! I've been waiting for over an hour and they won't tell me anything about X?!"

Alia winced and tugged him forward, "There's nothing we can do about that. Now, come on, let's go get something to eat. I'll talk to Zero later."

Her voice wasn't hard, but there was a definite threat there. The female Navigator was a force to be reckoned with, being one of the few people who could keep up with the Commands in an argument. Axl almost felt sorry for Zero.

Almost.

"I can't believe he would just leave me here," he whined. "…He was _really_ upset 'bout this though. I know we all are, but he seemed to take it personally."

"Of course he does," she sighed, pulling him a little closer to her. "I'll deal with him later. Now let's go get some food."

Alia seemed calm, but Axl could feel the tenseness in her grip. She was _way_ more worried than she let on. But weren't they all? He wondered though, if what Zero said about X and Alia was true. There were other people who suggested it to him—he'd caught Signas discussing Alia with X once, and the little blue android hadn't seemed his usually composed self—flustered and evasive. Axl snorted at that memory. He'd have to ask X if there was any truth to the speculation.

If he ever got the chance to, that is.


	4. Good News and Bad News

Ars Moriendi

Chapter 4

Good News and Bad News

**AN:** Oh, look who updated?

**Pairings:** None.

**Warnings:** Axl seems to have a fixation with imagining X's injuries. Briefly.

0X0

Zero surprised himself by _not_ demolishing the training sims. But he couldn't really count that for himself, given he didn't even make it there. But that had been his intent when he left—was _banished _from the waiting area. There were too many people around and too many questions. They kept staring at him with unsettling expressions. Most of the time, he glared back and sent them scurrying away, but—astonishingly—some of them didn't move. What were they thinking? Zero got the feeling they were upset with him—angry?—but there was no reason for him to stop and ask. And then there were the curious rookies. He might snap someone's neck if they started asking about X—

"How'd it go?" "Did you get him?" "What's going on, Commander?"

He had turned and left before even coming _near_ the sims. His bedroom sounded more appealing right now. He'd shower first, though: His hands were still covered in dried acid and soot, and he wanted to wash them immediately. There was a thick layer of glove separating the filth from him but he still felt his skin crawling, as if it had dried there instead of on his armor.

Zero brushed off anyone attempting to interrogate him. He couldn't bring himself to feel bad about it; he wasn't their source for information. They should go elsewhere and leave him alone.

What was he going to do when people found out about X? About what had happened on that rooftop? Would he have to deal with unwanted pity, or anger? Would he be blamed by everyone or would they try to understand? What if they already knew? Maybe that's why some of them kept staring at him, accusing him silently.

The Hunter shook his head and entered his quarters. It was different than it used to be here. The small place Cain had built for himself had been enveloped by HQ, and it, in turn had expanded into something like a residential area. It was still quiet, and private, but he and X were now sharing the extended "house" with far more people, and more neighbors. No one really shared quarters, the Virus could spread too easily that way. X, being immune, was allowed to share, but he'd probably prefer being alone: They were all messy and X kept his quarters immaculately clean.

Axl wasn't here, thank Asimov. He was probably either looking for Zero or waiting in that hallway he'd been in, waiting endlessly for news on X. He felt bad, but…. No, he didn't. He needed some time to himself. He _would_ feel bad if he busted someone's head—someone like Axl, maybe. He snorted and shook his head as he entered his room and began stripping off his armor. The yellowish carpet had once been cheery and bright, now it had faded into an off-white, full of oil and coolant stains. X kept insisting he get new carpet, or hardwood, and be less messy.

Zero looked at the grime in the deeper grooves in his armor, trying to fight off his uneasiness. What did he care if Axl was upset? The redhead was volatile even on a good day, and he rarely held grudges. Still, this was more severe than accidentally eating Axl's dinner: This was getting one of Axl's father figures killed through his own stupidity. He forwent polishing the smudges out of his armor in favor of a shower. A shower sounded far more satisfying.

Axl was going to be so mad at him.

A0X0A

Axl glared into his nachos. They were perfect and warm and cheesy and delicious—What was he doing? Nachos were for eating not for staring at!

"They're going to get cold, Axl, then you'll be even unhappier."

Axl glanced across the table at the navigator who had paused with a forkful of pasta halfway to her mouth. He poked at one of the chips as he responded, "I know, I just—why would he _do that_?!"

"I don't know, Axl. I thought we'd closed this subject? Stop thinking about it and finish your food."

Axl wasn't one to argue with a Navigator—off-duty that is—particularly with _this_ Navigator. She'd give that blond doofus what-for later and he could be satisfied with just the idea of that….for now. Maybe he'd sneak in at night and tie his hair in bows—no, no, he'd tried that before: It'd resulted in a black eye and a lot of glaring, and X lecturing both of them for—

He kind of wouldn't mind a lecture right now, and he didn't think Zero would either

"Eh, fine," he grumbled, popping a nacho into his mouth. "You sure Lifesaver will call us as _soon_ as they have news?" Not that he thought Lifesavers were a bad model line who would withhold information from anxious friends and family members. They weren't bad people, just hellspawn medics. Only X didn't seem to dislike them.

Alia looked up at him again, slightly annoyed now. "_Yes_, Axl. We'll know, and so will Zero. Now _eat."_

Axl pouted—not at her, though, he knew better. "Fine."

Alia finished before he did, but that didn't encourage him to eat more quickly. It's kind of hard to eat with an intimidating blonde Navigator staring at you, but he managed to eat all of it. There was a sour taste in his mouth by the time he was done, and he highly doubted the delicious, cheesy nachos were the cause. He had only just finished when he got a ping from a Lifesaver unit: Two days after being brought back and X could finally have visitors. At least Axl knew he wasn't dead now. And he also knew Zero hadn't been down pacing the halls and terrifying nurses. Why? Even the unit alerting him seemed baffled.

"Welp!" Axl chirped loudly as he hopped up from his seat, startling the Hunters at the nearest tables. "I'm gonna go home, check my PET and get some sleep." And possibly smack a blond.

Alia, having received the same alert, hastily piled the bowls onto a tray. "Wait. Axl you aren't going to confront Zero, are you? He needs some time to calm down."

The redhead deflated a little.

"Ah, I know," Axl scratched the back of his head. He was frustrated, but he'd acknowledged that Alia was right….he was still going to smack him. "I'm just going to—"

"Axl," she glared at him, warning clear in her eyes.

Geez, Zero was right, women were scary….. Not that he'd met many women. But Alia and Era, and occasionally Pallette, were terrifying them they were upset. And _Layer_ when Zero was in trouble…. Axl shivered.

"Alia, come on, I'm just going to talk to him!" He protested, hands held out palm-first as if to ward her off. Not that that would do any good. "He's been acting _weird_ these past two days—"

"You haven't even _seen him_!"

"Well, I've _heard_ he was acting weird!"

Finally, the blond's rigid stance wilted. "If you upset him it's _your head_, Axl. I tried to stop you, but you're too stubborn to see reason! And reckless." Who in their right mind poked an injured bear? Axl, apparently.

"I know," was his thoroughly unrepentant response. X lamented it often enough that it was burned into his processor.

He just needed to _talk_ to Zero. He just needed to know the truth; Zero was always so careful when X was around, and apparently the higher ups hadn't thought the mission had been difficult enough for backup, highly explosive Reploids or not. What had happened to X? What had gone so horribly wrong?

Why was he hearing things? In the cafeteria, in the machine bay, in the sims, in the halls, people constantly whispering about it. He wasn't sure if Alia had heard things or not, but her nervousness about him confronting Zero might be tied to that. Or to the fact that he wasn't the most tactful of people, but still, it wasn't like he was going to go see Zero _just_ to rile him up. He was more mature than that.

Usually. Sometimes? It depended on certain factors, namely Zero's mood.

He turned and left before she could tackle him, or give him another tongue-lashing. Axl was aware of her stare boring into his back as he left the mess hall, imagining her terrifying expression spurred him on at a brisker pace. He wasn't sure which was scarier angry, Alia or Zero. No, no, he knew. Zero, definitely Zero. Zero killed people when he was angry, Alia just occasionally concussed them: And Axl always ran when they were angry, because when one of them was upset at HQ it was generally because of him.

X would just sigh disapprovingly and act aloof until they calmed down, but Axl knew he smiled at their shenanigans. He used to, at least, before acid blew up in his face. The gunner cringed at his own choice of words, but it was _true_. He'd never liked that gecko unit, ever. He'd been so glad when he'd been demoted to factory-duty. Now he had even more reason to dislike him. Because he blew up on X, poor guy. Everyone probably hated that stupid lizard now, because everyone loved X.

Asimov, he really hoped X was okay. This was his first time really having it sink in what had happened to the older Hunter. What if he…..died? X couldn't die! He was too old and stubborn to die! He and Zero both, they were practically immortal! At least, that's how the rumors went…. Not that Axl believed in rumors.

Not that that stopped him from teasing Zero with them. The occasional bruises were worth the delicious looks of outrage and shock when he heard him repeat them. _"Guess what? Someone said they saw you and X coming out of a supply closet. It's about time." "Hey, I heard someone say you talk to your saber. I think it's time you got yourself a girlfriend, buddy." "Is it true that you're actually older than X?"_

Axl nosed around the sims first, confirming with a rather shaken rookie that, yes, Zero had been there earlier this morning. Very briefly. Well, no one had died or been dismembered? The sim wasn't even out of commission! But if Zero wasn't here, then he should be in his room, right? That would be better, more private. Then again, there would be no one to hear him scream for help, so maybe it wasn't better. He thought about abandoning the visit altogether, but gathered up the will to complete his journey. He passed more than one unit—once he'd made his way into the residential area—that looked at him like he was crazy. He couldn't blame them.

Finally, Axl reached Zero's quarters, promptly announcing his presence by falling over the oil cans set next to the door. Damn Zero and his oil cans! Not that Axl didn't leave similar items littered around his quarters, and not that Zero didn't bump into his junk, too; he probably deserved it. Only X out of the three of them, seemed to actually use his supply closet.

There seemed to be more junk than usual flung about the small foyer—throughout the apartment, actually—there was even a shirt thrown over the pictures on the end table, and empty bowls from breakfast on the coffee table: And a disheveled blond glaring wordlessly at him from the couch. He wasn't even _dressed yet,_ still wearing the loose pants and oversized tee that Axl knew was his sleepwear. Zero was not pleased to see him. Or at least, he thought he wasn't pleased to see him. A scowl was sort of his normal expression.

Axl flopped down on the couch under the glaring eye of the old man, and Axl swore he heard a growl when he propped his feet up on the coffee table. What? It wasn't like Zero didn't do it all the time, too! They didn't dare do that in X's quarters, though. X might have been the smallest of them, but he had the most formidable anger. It was a good thing X didn't anger easily; Zero seemed to frustrate him a lot, though.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Zero growled, moving around to face him. Sometimes he forgot how big Zero was until the guy wanted to crush him into a pulp.

"Aw, c'mon, big guy, I just wanted to see how you were doing!"

"Lies," Zero retorted, unfazed. "You're up to something; you want something."

"Your attention?"

"I'm not X, I won't tolerate your stupidity. I don't think it's cute."

It was burning on his tongue. He wanted to squirm, but no, no he couldn't bring up the rumor now. He should check on Zero first, make sure he was okay. "I am adorable, but of course you're not X, X is in the medical wing, badly injured. ….Possibly because you dropped him before you teleported. On purpose," he rushed out. So much for trying to ask him _gently_. Stupid mouth.

Zero looked furious, like he might scream. "_What_?!"

No, that was not a scream that was definitely a roar.

"Hey, hey!" Axl hopped up as Zero surged toward him like massive, blond tidal wave. "I'm not accusing you, I'm just repeating what I heard! I thought you might want to know!"

"Who?!" Zero didn't slow down, running Axl backward until he hit a wall. "Who's saying that?!"

"Everyone?" Axl squeaked out. "Well, not everyone, but a lot of people down at the Bay, and—"

Zero swore.

"Hey, hey, I thought X told you not to use that word."

"X isn't _here_."

"Good point."

Zero gave him a look, like he was the worst possible thing that could have crawled into his quarters. He almost said 'Don't shoot the messenger', but, honestly, he probably would have shot himself long ago, had he been Zero. It was a good thing he wasn't Zero. Then again, it was a bad thing he wasn't Zero, Zero was bigger, stronger, and probably going to kill him.

"Sorry?" He offered, grinning sheepishly.

"You come in here, accuse me—"

"I did not accuse you, I was repeating information! And I didn't mean to put it so bluntly, it just slipped out!"

"—which is probably the _stupidest _thing I've ever seen you do, and I've known you for a while."

"It kinda was, wasn't it?" X was right, he really didn't think before he spoke sometimes. Axl could imagine trying to explain it to X now: He'd just gotten nervous and blurted it out! He'd _meant_ to be more tactful, he promised!

Axl missed X. Axl was pretty sure Zero missed X more. How were they going to survive X's recovery period? If he recovered. No, no, he'd recover; X was tough and old, even if he was small.

Zero grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and brought their faces near. "Axl, look me in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with this rumor being started."

Axl was _offended_. He scowled back at Zero, "Of course not! I know I started a few of them, but not something like this! That's low…."

With a sigh, the blond released him. "Good. I'll learn more about this rumor later," he declared, turning to sit down on his worn burgundy couch.

More than one stain on it was from Axl's lack of coordination with glasses. He miraculously became more graceful in X's quarters; if he spilled any drink on X's velvety sky blue couch, X would flay him alive. Or give him that sad look that would make him _prefer_ being skinned alive. X was a powerful unit and—

"Hey! You got the ping, too, right? Aren't you going to go down and check on X?" Axl demanded, flopping down over the back of the couch and squinting at him. The squishy furniture creaked unhappily under their combined weight.

Zero pointedly didn't look at him and switched on the TV. Rude. "Seriously though," Axl prodded him again, trying not to slide forward on the couch and faceplant on the floor. "I thought you'd be rushing to check on him today! The front desk says you haven't even _been there_ today!"

The bigger Hunter elbowed him roughly in the gut. "He's _fine_. He doesn't need me to babysit him."

"Yeah, but what if he's in pain? He had a head wound, his processor's probably all scrambled…."

"He's fine."

"He might be scared."

"He's a big boy."

"He got knocked around in an explosion and acid exploded all over him! How can you not be worried?!"

"He. Is. _Fine," _Zero ground out, blue eyes flashing in a terrifying way. He immediately backed off, not wanting to risk losing a large chunk of his hair to a saber. Again.

Axl slunk off the couch, scowling. "Fine. Be that way. I'll go see X by myself then!"

And then Axl stomped out of Zero's quarters to do just that... But he chickened out after checking on the other unit's condition. The good news was X was alive. The bad news was that X was hurt pretty badly (and that Zero was being as moody as a pubescent girl). He didn't want to see X, pumped full of chemicals, possibly horribly disfigured and covered in burns and bandages. What if all of his skin was gone? Maybe he'd watched too many horror movies, but what if he didn't have a _face_ anymore?! No, he couldn't go in there, not alone, and he couldn't find Alia. ….Maybe tomorrow Zero wouldn't be so _moody_.

**AN:** Argh, this would have been out a week earlier but I had a mild crisis in my college English class.

So…. This is pretty late. In fact, I think it's been since August since I updated anything? I'm working on that. Broken record, I know. This chapter has actually been mostly finished for months.

But I'm finally updating the plots of my fics and working on them, so we _should_ be seeing more updates. Reviews are great motivators~


	5. We Need to Talk

Ars Moriendi

Chapter 5

We Need to Talk

**AN**: Oh, goodness, I'm sleepy. I apologize for any errors, I'm falling asleep, but I'd resolved to post early Saturday morning. I think I've already missed my goal.

Please review if you can~

X

It had been three days since "the incident" as they were calling it. No one was calling it what it was, "the day X potentially got his face blown off, but no one knows for sure if he did because the Lifesavers aren't talking and no one with clearance has the guts to visit him". That list of people with clearance but no guts included Axl, much to his shame. But he didn't want to go alone—hey, he wasn't good with injured people!-and Zero wouldn't move his butt off the couch. And when he did move his butt off the couch all he did was try to demolish the sims until someone kicked him out.

He likely had a temp ban at this point from terrifying rookies and possibly damaging sims, because that's what usually happened when Zero's frustration got the better of him. No one wanted to deal with a frustrated Zero, not even Axl; he was like a grumpy bear and Axl knew better than to poke him—at least, not to poke him too much at once. He'd wait a bit.

With Zero no longer an option—it wasn't like he needed the stupid giant anyway—he'd taken to trying to convince Alia to go with him…. except she wasn't home every time he tried to visit and ask her to accompany him, and she was at work whenever he actually saw her. He knew better than to talk to a Nav while they were working: Signas would smack the back of his head. Axl had hoped that she would be in her apartment today, but it looked like he was out of luck again.

Alia's quarters were neat, colored in dark, vibrant shades of maroon and pale pink. Too girly for him—but not X, apparently, because he often remarked on her good taste. Axl knew she was out; her shoes weren't by the door, so she probably wasn't here. Unless she'd gone out somewhere nice and worn better shoes, but he didn't think so because Alia only went out with her fellow Navigators, and Layer and Pallette were on duty. Unless she was on a date….. Nah.

Alia intimidated most men, pretty or not. And she was one of the _older_ units in HQ, though that shouldn't really have much to do with dating when you were a Reploid, but still, it seemed to deter most units (probably because when most people thought of older units, Signas, Zero, and Sigma came to mind). That and she didn't usually seem all that interested in dating? He could have been wrong, though, and Zero always said he was bad at reading women.

Axl checked her quarters—very, very carefully—before deciding she definitely was not here. Well, now what did he do? Axl sighed as Alia's door closed behind him. Maybe he could take on a mission.

*-A-*

Alia was not on a date—_not_ that she didn't go on dates, she just had very high standards—she was, in fact, doing what Axl and Zero refused to do: Visiting X.

It had been her decision to check on the older unit after Axl had stormed off to confront Zero, fearful as she'd been that he was in worse shape than even her imagination thought. When she'd first visited, she'd regretted it immediately and thought maybe the boys had had the right idea. The first day he was anything but lucid, struggling between drugs and head injury, he could barely remember who she was. It had been an effort to sit with him, try to distract him from his discomfort as her eyes roamed over the faded mint walls, the bland, white ceiling, anywhere but X's scarred face. The next day she'd been greeted by an extremely alert X, worried that, because Zero wasn't coming to see him, his friend had been badly injured or killed. She'd had a much easier time keeping him company that day.

She assured him Zero and Axl were both fine:

"_They're just being silly," Alia whispered to him._

_He snorted as best he could. "Endearingly so, but I wish they'd at least come here and see me."_

"_Are you sure? You were saying some really funny things earlier," she teased._

_He blushed, though his bandages hid most of it. "Oh, hush. I was drugged."_

Today she brought contraband. Today X was sitting up, his one visible eye focusing on her the moment she walked in, sharp and green as ever. He looked relieved to see her, but also disappointed that she wasn't someone else. So the boys hadn't visited still? Then his gaze went to what was in her hand as she moved it out from behind her satchel. X looked like he might kiss her.

"How did you get that in here?" Well, it hadn't been easy. She swore at least one Lifesaver almost saw her.

She smiled as she handed the milkshake over to him. "Be careful. If you get sick over this I'm going to be in so much trouble." She doubted he would, it wasn't like he was a human capable of overeating.

"I'll save you," he promised, sipping fervently. It was vanilla, his favorite; he loved the delicate sweetness of it. "Milkshakes never killed anyone."

"Oh, I'm sure a Lifesaver could tell us otherwise," she pulled up a plastic chair and sat down beside his bed. She really should bring a pillow to sit down on next time.

Alia settled back to observe X as he drank and enjoyed the treat she'd brought him, his eye sliding closed for a moment. The right side of his face was obscured by bandages, stark white against his dark brown hair. She had no idea how bad the damage was to that eye, or even if it was still in place; for all Alia knew there was nothing but an empty socket back there. Maybe X didn't really know either. Of course, it could be replaced if the delicate optic was too badly damaged to repair itself.

There were burns on his hands, swathed in clean white. She'd seen those, at least, but she couldn't stomach even trying to look at the others; she knew they were the most minor wounds he had. They didn't look terrible, no worse than the plasma burns she'd seen, but it still bothered her. He could barely open his left hand, but the right was perfectly fine. X said he had a few on his chest as well, where chemicals had slipped between the heavier plating of his armor and eaten through. But it wasn't too bad, he insisted. Alia didn't want to look to give her opinion on it, but she trusted him. The worst, Lifesaver had told her, was on his right, lower leg, eaten through to the frame beneath; it wouldn't be able to hold his weight for a while yet, X had admitted. She'd felt a little sick after hearing that and he'd known it, if the immediately apology was anything to judge by. He was usually sweet, tactful unless he felt the situation called for directness, but, given his current state, she couldn't blame him for slipping occasionally.

Once the older unit had sipped in silence for a few moments, he turned to her. "How was work?"

"The same." She remembered the last time X had been out of commission, and remarked, "No one's moved the furniture around while you weren't there, I promise."

"Or relocated the strategy room?"

"It's still there," she smiled. "No one's planning any elaborate welcome back pranks for you this time."

"Thank Light," he sighed, rolling his visible eye. "I'm too old for their jokes anyway."

"You're still young," she protested. "Old age is a state of mind."

He gave her a dazzling, slow smile, "I know, Alia, but I'm certainly not old in the physical sense." At least, not in the greying hair and creaky joints sense.

She supposed he had a point; after all, he did look like a young human. He'd been mistaken for a human as young as fourteen before, much to his amusement. She had been there when it happened. It was his face, and his shortness for the most part, X's eyes were usually what broke the illusion: They were vibrant, expressive, and piercing. Alia swore she could feel the weight of his eyes on her when he looked at her, but that was silly.

X went back to sipping at his milkshake, eye occasionally turning to look at her: Alia could sense an impending question.

"…Seen Axl or Zero today?" There it was.

She crossed her legs to give herself a moment to think up a good response. "Axl's been taking on minor missions, so he's kept himself busy. I can't say the same for Zero, I haven't even seen him around lately."

"Because he's taking missions?" X's tone made it sound like he knew that wasn't the case.

She shook her head. As far as she knew—from Axl—Zero hadn't left his quarters in a while. Zero tended to be aggressive when he was upset over something, so perhaps it was for the best.

"Ah…." X looked down at the cold Styrofoam cup in his hand.

That was when Alia resolved to kidnap two certain idiots and tie them up at X's bedside. It was true that they didn't know how bad—or well—off X was, but that was no excuse to abandon him as they had. Alia broke off her train of thought with a heavy breath. She shouldn't get mad around X; he'd sense it and it might stress him out. She sighed again and looked around the room.

"They could have given you a nicer room," she remarked, a note of disapproval in her voice. "Or at least one with a window."

"I don't mind," he smiled at her. "I won't be in here long." He sounded very sure of himself.

"But you're badly injured, X," she reminded him sternly.

"I know that, Alia, but I'll be fine to rest in my own quarters in a few days."

Alia gave him a look of mild disbelief. "I'll have to stay with you."

"Oh, what will the neighbors think?"

"X, really." His sudden outbursts of humor always caught her off-guard.

"I know; I don't mind, but I think it would be better if Zero or Axl did that."

Her look turned into one of disapproval. "I'd rather not have you dead because of their incompetence."

X smiled again, and then winced as the expression pulled tender flesh, "Alia, don't you trust them?"

"For killing Mavericks and completing missions," she didn't smile back. "Not for caring for injured units."

"You do have a point," his smile didn't fade. He was amused by her, she could tell. X was amused by the strangest things at times.

X finished his milkshake and stared sadly at the empty cup until she took it away from him, vanishing briefly to throw it in the trash. He still looked sad when she came back.

"I'll bring you another one later," she promised him.

"Thank you."

She stayed with him until he fell asleep and then left to find Axl. Her search for the redhead took her to his quarters—Light, everything was a mess—and then then Zero's quarters—where she was denied entrance—then the sims, then the cafeteria. She knew there was no way he was in the library, so that left him being either off-base (on a mission or for entertainment), or visiting a fellow Hunter. Alia was forced to return to her quarters and sit about sighing. Well, maybe not just sighing, she'd do other things; X had let her borrow one of his books.

-X-

The clock ticked by slowly once X woke up, and hours passed, extremely boring, draining hours, without Alia or any other guest. It was three, four, five in the afternoon, he was hungry, he was bored. All he had to entertain himself was the ceiling, which was hardly worth looking at. Axl hadn't chosen to visit him, for mysterious reasons; Alia had said Axl wanted to visit him last she'd seen him, but he hadn't peeked in once. There was a chance he'd visited him on his "bad day" and been frightened away, but he had no way of knowing for certain. He couldn't send a message to him either: Lifesavers didn't allow that, or anything else they might find disruptive to their patients' recovery, despite his insistences that it would help him relax. X felt like a misbehaving teenaged human every time he was in their care, with his only means for outside communication taken from him—for some reason that always amused Zero.

Ah, Zero, poor Zero. Surely he was blaming himself over this, wasn't he? X thought he could read his friend's behavior by now, and this certainly reeked of guilt. Usually, he could help Zero out of it, but he was the cause of it this time, and interaction was entirely dependent on the stubborn blond—

There was a knock at the door. X peered at it intently, core fluttering. Could it be…?

A massive unit in full regalia ducked under the doorframe, sweeping his helmet off his head as he stepped into the room. X smiled, pleasantly surprised, but still surprised nonetheless. "Signas." To think the supreme commander had dropped by to check on him.

A dark brow arched over a teal optic, "You sound disappointed, X."

"I was hoping you'd be Alia, with goodies, sir." That was true.

"Has she been spoiling you? The lifesavers will ban her for life if they catch her," there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Just alleviating my boredom, sir," he answered truthfully.

The massive unit nodded slowly, "I see. She brought you nothing to read?"

"I'm afraid I get headaches if I attempt to read or watch anything," he said slowly. They'd tried a lot that third day, but the resulting throb deep in the injured part of his processor had left him sleeping the rest of the day away trying to escape it.

"Hmm," he sounded displeased. "You have been resting sufficiently? Instead of worrying over paperwork and rookie training?"

"Yes, sir." He fell asleep often. "I try."

Signas' sharp eyes roved over the small room critically. It was built for humanoids, obviously, given Signas and the Lifesavers barely fit, so a bestial Reploid probably wouldn't. Not comfortably at least. X suspected the commander was about to leave. He felt a bit disappointed again, though he knew the commander was a busy man who couldn't waste time here with one unfortunate soldier.

"Very well then," he nodded, as if pleased with something, and got up to leave, just as he'd expected. "It is a pity that you'll be off-duty for a while, X, but I suspect a break will do you good."

"….." Had Signas now joined the ranks of scolding nannies telling him he needed more rest and less stress? Of course he had, he'd been one of the first, and X had to smile faintly. "Understood, sir."

Signas left, Alia didn't return, and neither Axl nor Zero came to visit him that day. He was worried that they were anxious, but also incredibly frustrated.

X was starting to get annoyed with them.

_0_

Zero managed to get one more day alone in his quarters before Axl weaseled his way inside. He'd just finished breakfast and was taking his plate back to the kitchenette when Axl appeared, apparently out of thin air, and nearly made him lose his grip on his plate. Blue eyes glared down accusingly into unrepentant turquoise optics.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" He demanded, voice low and threatening.

Axl blinked innocently at him, "I wanted to check on you and make sure you were alright."

"You hacked my door, didn't you." Zero didn't even question it, this little pest was famous for getting into places where he wasn't wanted, whether they were locked or not.

"Yep."

"Your lack of understanding for others' need of _personal space_ is going to get you beheaded one day." Likely by Zero himself.

"Aw, come on, Zero, relax. You're starting to sound like X!" He grinned mischievously, but it faded almost as quickly as it came. Zero felt dread bubble in his core. "Speaking of…."

Zero knew why he was here; maybe he'd been stupid to hide away—no, he knew he had. X could have died while he was in here, wallowing in self-pity and guilt, and then he'd have even more unforgiveable sins to his name. Alia was going to kill him.

"So, uh… how is he?" Zero asked, before Axl could speak further. He crossed his arms, noting Axl's surprised but hopeful expression.

And then the redhead looked sheepish.

"Eh…. I haven't been to see him yet?" Oh, really now?

"….You've been giving me this holier-than-thou treatment and you haven't seen him either?" A foreboding scowl appeared on Zero's face, prompting Axl to hold up his hands to ward him off.

"Hey! Hey, I _want_ to go see him. I just need a shield against Lifesavers." Zero could tell that wasn't entirely true.

"….You're due for a checkup, aren't you?" Axl was always due for one, it seemed.

"….Shush."

Zero shook his head and ordered Axl to sit down and not make a nuisance of himself as he dressed. He couldn't go to the medical ward in his sleepwear. That would be one way to damage his image as a fearsome Hunter: Shuffling out of his quarters unbrushed, in rumpled clothing, and only half-charged.

"Come on, Zero! It's been four days! I tried to find Alia to ask her how he was doing, but I couldn't find her anywhere!" Zero sighed heavily and stormed out of his bathroom.

"Keep talking and you're going to find your mouth on the side of your head instead of the front."

Axl suddenly looked sly. "Well, that shouldn't bother me too much, you always said I talk out of my—"

"Axl!" He barked, his fragile patience snapping. "Are we going or not?"

The short gunner gave him a mock salute and they started out toward the medical bay. They got several curious stares, some pauses, as they walked. Zero ignored them, keeping a dignified pace a few steps behind Axl. They couldn't get to Med-bay quickly enough for the blond, who kept responding to Axl's—mostly one-sided—conversation with grunts.

Axl knew what room he was being kept in, so they bypassed the reception desks completely. Zero steeled his nerves as Axl entered the code to open the door, shifting his weight from foot to foot. What if his worries hadn't been incorrect? What if X was blind, or missing limbs, or horribly, irreparably scarred? If X had been a human the incident would definitely have killed him. Thank Asimov X wasn't a human.

"Eh?!" Zero blinked himself out of his unhappy reverie; Axl had wandered inside while he'd been musing. "He isn't here! It's empty… the bed's all made up."

Zero's core fluttered in panic. Did that mean X was…? "Dead?" He whispered, startling himself with his own voice. Axl looked stricken.

"No! They probably just moved him to another room."

They went back to the nearest reception desk then, and inquired about the whereabouts of their small, injured friend. They were shocked to learn that he'd been released to rest at home. Why? Hadn't he been horribly injured?! But the receptionist could tell them no more, so, after shuffling around awkwardly and muttering about what they should do, they went back toward Zero's living quarters. And X's.

Axl seemed to gather some courage and charged inside immediately upon reaching their destination, only to be set upon by a hissing Alia. So that meant X was here if Alia was present, correct? Her next words confirmed it.

"What do you think you're doing?! He's sleeping! You avoid him during all his time in the medical ward and then you show up just to wake him the minute he gets settled in at home?"

Axl became sheepish, "Aw, come on… it's not like we knew he was asleep—Hey! I wanted to go see him—I just couldn't find anyone to go with me!"

Alia put her hands on her hips, glancing briefly at Zero. "Oh really? I looked everywhere for _you_ and couldn't find you."

Axl rubbed the back of his head. "Oh… sorry. Bad coincidence?"

The Navigator just sighed and motioned them back toward the bedroom. Axl followed closely on Alia's heels, nearly tripping her once, much to her annoyance. Zero had to wonder just what they'd done to tick the normally good-natured woman off. Other than being foolish, of course.

She opened the door a crack, then leaned back so they could see. Zero had plenty of space to see above Axl's head, even as the gunner crowded the door. He felt his throat clench at the sight of the bandages around X's eyes. So he'd been somewhat correct in his assumption that X had been blinded. Axl twitched anxiously below him. Zero wanted to ask her what the hell he was doing out of Med-bay, but he didn't trust his voice to be quiet right now.

"He's okay?" Axl asked Alia in an urgent whisper. Zero could tell the kid was uncomfortable, and he couldn't blame him. X looked pretty bad. Not as bad as he'd feared, but not well enough to be reassuring.

Alia nodded, much to their relief. "He's in bad shape, but his Lifesaver thought he could rest more comfortably at home. A nurse will be coming by a few times a day to check on him."

Axl was still for a second—a miracle, really—then ducked out from under Zero, brushing past Alia. "Er, I uh, didn't get much sleep last night, so I think I'm going to go home and nap for a bit. Later!"

Alia exhaled, but didn't seem overly upset with him. Zero slowly began moving away from the door as well, and then: "Zero…"

The voice was so quiet he almost didn't pick it up. He turned to find a single green eye watching him. "Come talk to me."

**AN**: Yay for regular updates? I'm going to try my hardest to update once a week, but it might not always be on the weekend. Things like essays and writer's block may slow it down, but I will _not_ be going on hiatuses like before. Next chapter may get out a bit slower as I'm still working on revision, and plotting everything out.

Remember, reviews are great motivators and they make me incredibly happy!


	6. Therapy and Apologies

Ars Moriendi

Chapter 6

Therapy and Apologies

_Z_

Apprehension went through him at X's request; the little bot looked pretty bad… he didn't want to strain him, after all. Or talk about his problems, and X would talk about his problems, of course. X thought he was a therapist every time any of his friends started acting off. But he had to admit they were grateful to him for it, most of the time.

Zero looked at Alia as if for her blessing, silently asking her if it would be okay. Would X be alright engaging in conversation for an extended period? X's talks tended to be lengthy ones at times, and he always tried to resolve as much as he could as soon as he could. He seemed weak, but Alia nodded and nudged the door open further for him. Zero hesitated for a second, simultaneously unnerved and bolstered by the piercing gaze of X's optic. The older unit was unreadable, neither displeased nor happy as far as he could tell, and he may well have been both, knowing X. Zero sighed and moved to stand near the bedridden 'bot, hearing the door close quietly behind him.

"X," he greeted as he leaned against the pale green wall nearest X's bed, folding his arms over his chest in a pose that was both defensive and uncomfortable.

X was uncommonly blunt today, it seemed, and he didn't even exchange any pleasantries before getting right to the meat: "Zero, have you been avoiding me?" X asked quietly, utterly still. He wouldn't stop _staring_ at him.

"…." He wasn't denying it he just wasn't sure how to respond. Finally, he growled out a scolding, "You almost got yourself killed, you idiot."

Except it was actually his fault, wasn't it? He'd been the one who screwed up the kill, been the one to detonate Gekota, purposefully or not. And he'd been unable to take X back to safety with him—X could be fine other than a head wound had he not…. Had he not what? He still didn't know what had gone so wrong.

"Zero, you're not angry with me, are you?" X's soft, worried voice cut through his thoughts.

No, he wasn't and he was quick to reassure his little buddy. "I'm not," he agreed.

The brunet fidgeted with his bedcovers for a moment, fingers tracing the familiar green and blue patchwork of it. He'd had that one for as long as Zero could remember; it was likely he'd had it even back when he lived with Cain. X seemed to keep everything he could, anything that he perceived as precious, even if Zero thought it was junk. Sometimes, he swore the unit was turning into a hoarder.

"Are you frightened?" X asked again, voice still quiet, careful.

"I don't get scared." It was a lie.

"Everyone gets scared." Denying wouldn't do him any good, X could always see right through him anyway.

Maybe Axl was onto something about X being psychic. Or empathic at least, as X seemed to know their thoughts before they were voiced. And how they were feeling, but Zero had always blamed that on X's being a mother hen. Cain had always said X was good at reading body language and Zero found that was a more comfortable explanation of X's near-omniscience.

"Not me."

There was a great heave from the small android in the bed, a look of long-suffering crossing his face. Zero felt sorry for him, having to deal with Axl and himself. At least he rarely _angered_ the brunet—though there was that one incident with the frying pan. He would never forget the frying pan; both out of remembered pain and because it embarrassed his little buddy horribly to bring it up.

"Of course, great emotionally-impaired one." Ah, there was the sass. He'd missed it even though he'd only been a few days without it.

"X, I'm sorry," he said suddenly, sounding just as tired as the other. X looked stunned. "I shouldn't have done what I did, but I…. I needed to sort myself out, alright?"

"I forgive you," X said calmly.

"….So, is that it?" The blond began edging toward the door, a little embarrassed at having apologized.

"No. Talk to me," X insisted. Of course that wasn't it, this was X he was speaking to. "Tell me what you've been doing."

"Pushy today," he mused. X could be very pushy at times.

"I'm old and bored, that is not a good combination. Are you just going to leave me here to waste away?"

"You're not that old, X," Zero sighed. "I pity whoever's going to be around when you finally _do_ get old."

"It'll be you," X said certainly.

"Of course, unless you nag me into an early grave."

The brunet looked hurt at that, then he cocked his head, seeming to observe Zero closely. "There's something else bothering you, isn't there?"

Zero felt the back of his neck crawl upon hearing those words. Axl's jokes that X was psychic kept floating to the top of his memories. "X… that's enough, you need your rest. You look tired."

"Zero, you are not leaving this room until you're honest with me." The small unit puffed himself up a bit, looking like he was working himself up into a fit of self-righteous annoyance. "If you insist on keeping everything bottled up inside then I'll have to be your cork screw."

"Don't make metaphors when you're unwell, X," Zero sighed, rubbing his temples at the aggravation. He was amused by it though, and a smile tugged at his lips.

"Alright, alright," X smiled, chuckling in a tight, strained way that made Zero remember that the other was in pain. "But seriously, I'm not letting you out of here until you tell me what's wrong, understand?"

There was a stubborn scowl contorting the unit's features, and Zero was torn between sighing and bursting into laughter. Sometimes it was difficult to tell when X was genuinely displeased and when he was merely playing—and X played a lot. But when he was angry he was a force to be reckoned with. A tiny force, but a force all the same. It was astonishing to think of the kills on X's record, especially given the first Uprising… X had been little more than a reluctant rookie who kept frustrating the senior Hunters with lot of promise, and a lot of disappointment. Poor thing, he'd been so skittish about fighting before, and then after Zero was resurrected… X had behaved very oddly for a while.

Zero shook himself from his reverie and looked X in the eye. No, he wasn't truly angry yet, but he would be if Zero kept refusing. And Zero, to his surprise and shame, gave in with a heavy sigh. He was tired of feeling bad, so why not tell X?

"There's a rumor going around that I tried to kill you."

A dark eyebrow rose in consideration. So this was news to him. "And?"

"What do you mean 'and'?"

"_And_?"

"…..And I'm not sure if I can deny it. I don't really know what happened then."

X's expression was suddenly cautious, "Oh, you can't? Do you think…?"

Zero was anything but immune to the Virus, he was the original carrier, after all, and he'd lost control to it more than once. It wasn't too farfetched to think he'd momentarily lost control during teleportation, was it? "It's possible."

"It's ridiculous," X countered immediately. "You don't remember it, do you? I didn't sense any flare of the Virus either."

"You were unconscious," Zero retorted irritably. How could X be sure when he was either delirious from a head wound or knocked out?

"True, I don't really remember what happened, but I could still sense it, surely." He did sound sure of himself, and it made Zero feel a little better.

"I want to believe you."

"But you believe them instead? I'm hurt." It was a jest, but Zero didn't find it all that funny. After all, he _had_ hurt X.

"Because of me… again."

"Zero, please, I'm getting tired of hearing this. I'm telling you to stop blaming yourself right now." There was that stern tone that X took on when he was dealing with rookies, and small children. Great, he was being treated like a child by X.

"I can't just stop feeling guilty," he protested loudly, prompting Alia to bang on the door.

Both males started in surprise, and Zero scowled because that meant she was eavesdropping. X recovered quickly, though, and told him.

"Let it go."

"X, it's not that simple—"

"_Let it go_."

"_X_. I appreciate you wanting to help me, but you can't—"

"I'll beat it out of you if I have to. Zero, I am _fine_. I'll be up on my feet in a few days. You didn't get me killed, and you didn't try to, either."

Zero found himself smiling, and, honestly, he felt a little better. X was as feisty as ever, so it was difficult to disbelieve what the brunet was claiming. "Fine, _Dad_, I'll let it go." Or he wouldn't talk about it anymore, at least.

Axl returned early the next morning, having finished all the available C rank missions he could find, though, really, Alia had finally caught him and booted him out. Pallette and Layer had refused to give him any mission coordinates, and he'd been forced to go to X. And he wasn't shy about telling him that. He was anxious at first, unwilling to look directly at X, but eventually he found his mind laid bare for X due to his freaky psychic powers.

He hadn't even had to ask anything! X had just gone quiet and then all of a sudden Axl couldn't stop talking! X looked extremely amused though, as he watched him when he was supposed to be watching the TV.

"So, did you do well on your missions, Axl?" He asked, once the redhead was through ranting.

"Yep!" He responded immediately, then paused. "Well… I nearly got killed by a Mett."

"I thought you said you were only taking C rank missions, what sort of super Mett was this?" X frowned. He seemed worried, but then the old man worried about everything.

"It was an accident. I went to one of those old bases in the jungle—South America, I think?—where everything's all overgrown? It hit something behind me; I think it must have been a fuel tank."

A concerned frown appeared on X's pale features, or, at least, what of them he could see. Axl hurried to reassure him.

"Hey, but I _didn't_ get blow up! I just got blown halfway across the map with a traumatized Mett." The little thing had wailed pitifully. He'd almost taken it home to show the others, but he didn't think Signas would allow a wild mechaniloid inside HQ without good reason.

X's good hand dragged across the uninjured side of his face, radiating exasperation as he listened. "I thought they'd cleaned up out there…."

"Out where?"

"Out _anywhere_ that's been abandoned. It's dangerous to just leave that sort of thing lying out for anyone to steal, or for any rookie to trip over."

"Hey, I'm not a rookie and I didn't trip over it. I missed a Mett and the Mett blew it up, not me," Axl corrected quickly, fists jammed against his hips. Then he looked around and spoke again before X could scold him again.

"Say… where's the blond?" He asked, as if only just realizing Zero's absence from the room.

X picked at his bandages, peering underneath the ones on his damaged hand. "Oh, he went out to report for duty. Signas called him in and debriefed him, and he's been cleared for work, so I imagine he's out on the field by now."

"At least he's calmed down by now." He'd almost pity any Maverick that a cranky Zero came across. "You did get him to calm down, right?"

"I hope I did, it's hard to tell with him sometimes" X exhaled, glancing out the window for a moment. Zero was hiding something, probably, if X was still upset over him. Axl had to wonder just what had made Zero so touchy these last few days.

It couldn't have been something _he'd_ said, right?

It felt wonderful to be working, productive, again, he had to admit. Moping alone in his quarters like a moody teenaged girl had taken a toll on him. Zero was an active Reploid, who rarely asked for vacations, or off time for injuries or upset: Missions usually helped with upset. X would probably be happy to see him working again, given that the older unit knew what a good stress reliever missions were to him.

"Zero?" A soft voice made him halt just outside the strategy room.

Zero turned at the sound of the familiar voice, dread twisting in his stomach. He'd almost forgotten about her. Everything had been so blissful today up to this point.

"Era?"

The tall female Reploid looked a little calmer than she usually did when she saw him, her pale features not contorted into a scowl. She looked a little embarrassed, actually.

"I'm…." she began quietly, brown eyes averted. "I'm here to apologize…. For my unacceptable behavior."

Zero was immediately suspicious, and he had to make a conscious effort to not let his disbelief apparent. She'd been thoroughly unrepentant for being a pathetic navigator, or for nearly getting him killed several times. Granted, she shaped up on tougher missions, but she always remained completely snippy at every exchange and Zero found it unsettling after being used to Alia or Layer's more friendly responses. Signas himself had told Zero she'd be let go immediately were it not for the dire need they had for Navigators: They were already pulling double shifts regularly, and some mechanics had been drafted into the much-needed position.

Signas had suggested reassigning her to someone else, and he'd wholeheartedly agreed until he realized she might keep the attitude up with someone less skilled. He would rather have a deadbeat Navigator than push one on a less experienced Hunter—Zero could work without a Nav, after all.

He crossed his arms as he scrutinized the woman, her pale red hair forming a curtain over most of her face—like X's bandages covered his. Zero shook himself. X was fine. _Fine_.

Zero wasn't entirely sure why she had turned on him like a wild animal; they hadn't met on bad terms at all, in fact, they'd exchanged a few kind words in the hallways before…. Before whatever had happened. One day she'd come up to him and asked him if he was free one Friday night—two weeks ago?-and he'd turned her down, saying he couldn't go anywhere. But she had access to his schedule, didn't she? Or, at least, to Axl or Alia, or even X, and they could all tell her he was _not_ busy. Maybe she'd asked them _beforehand_ and that was why she'd stormed off in a huff.

Regardless, it didn't excuse her repulsive behavior, and he let her know that as he stared her down, unrelenting. No, he did not believe or trust her. Not after that gross overreaction.

"…." She looked at him again, and then at the floor. "I really am sorry. I know I can't… justify my actions, but… I thought you were leading me on."

One of Zero's eyebrows rose at that. What in the world was she talking about? Was it his old reputation for flirting? That had been beaten out of him for the most part; he only flirted if he was in an extremely good mood and faced with an extremely good-looking lady: Which Era was. Maybe he really had flirted with her and didn't recall?

"See…. I had someone say you were saying certain things about me. And that you wanted to see me…"

He wracked his processor, but could neither confirm nor deny what she was saying. For the first part of her claim, at least. He knew for certain that he'd never voiced wanting to speak to her privately.

"But when I went to talk to you about it, you brushed me off. I thought you were being cruel to me, playing with me."

Zero managed to shrug, "You were lied to. I never said anything like that to anyone—not the meeting part, I mean."

She nodded solemnly. "I thought so, that's why I felt compelled to apologize to you. That and… I understand now, why you weren't interested in me."

He sighed, exhaling slowly as his arms uncrossed and crossed again. So she knew. "So you know…"

"Yes, I talked to Alia and Axl, and now I understand," she took a deep breath, looking both amused and frustrated. "You should really tell more people though. I know you want to keep it secret, but it would save you and a lot of girls a great deal of grief if you'd just come out and admit you're dating X."

Zero froze in shocked horror, staring at the other Reploid. If he'd been able to sweat nervously like a human then he would be by now. He didn't exactly know what to say, or where to start, but one thing was for certain: Axl was going to die.

**AN:** A little late, but I found myself struggling with college related things. Oh, goodness, I need to stop staying up so late to edit—it's well past my bedtime, if it wasn't this AN would be longer.

Reviews are awesome, and I love them~


	7. Slowly Settling

Ars Moriendi

Chapter 7

Slowly Settling

AN: I swear I format these in Word. It's just so troublesome to go back and put another space between all the paragraphs when I remember FF eats my formatting. Ran a little late with this chapter because coursework had me down, and, honestly, this chapter was a bit rushed.

_Z_

Zero stood near the door to the strategy room, occasionally glancing down either hall, trying to see if there was anyone who was near enough to overhear them. Once again, Axl had gotten him in trouble by virtue of his sense of mischief, and this one was a _mess_. Was it possible that Axl had been the one to initially mislead Era? She had said someone said he liked her. Given how juvenile it sounded, it was beginning to sound like a possibility, a very likely possibility.

"Era," he began, running his hand nervously through his thick hair. "Listen, it's not what you think."

"There's no reason to be so distraught, really," she smiled awkwardly. She looked startling like a bashful Axl when she did that, and he found himself feeling unsettled by the similarities.

"Everyone suspects it."

"What?" His optics went blank then wide with horror. Everyone suspected it? Really? Oh Asimov, this was worse than he'd initially thought. Axl was _really_ going to get it this time.

"No. Really, it's not what you think—this has nothing to do with X at all!"

She paused, and her head tilted, a curtain of pale orange hair rippling like water. "Oh…?"

If Axl had anything to do with this rumor being—apparently—widely accepted then he was _doubly_ dead, and nothing X did or said would stop him. X might even encourage Axl's discipline given how frustrated he got with rumors. Though, the brunet did find some of them amusing—like the one about Zero secretly being a female unit. Of course, there had been a similar rumor about X, which Zero had found equally amusing; but the truly funny thing was that the rumor about X being female still persisted to this day, more than even Zero's did.

X didn't mind that one so much, it was too harmless and ridiculous to be more than a joke. Not all rumors were so mild, however, such as the one about X secretly being a psychopath. That one hurt X more than he liked to let on, but Zero always used it to his advantage: Nothing scared a naïve rookie more than conspiratorially warning them about X and his numerous torture devices, which (in Zero's versions of the story) may or may not usually feature a frying pan. And, despite his exasperation, it made X laugh.

Zero turned his attention back to the baffled—and, oh, Asimov, she looked hopeful—female. "It's not that, Era. I'm not dating anyone else, and I am _not_ dating X, nor am I interested in dating X. Or anyone else for that matter, I'm not dating _at all._"

"You're… you aren't?" Now she looked uncertain again.

Maybe she thought it was because he didn't find her attractive? He might have intensely disliked her for her behavior toward him, but he knew better than to let her think he was slighting her. Again. Scorned women were almost as terrifying as enraged Xs.

"No, I'm not. And, I think my reputation precedes me, see, I haven't exactly been a ladies man in a long time." He really didn't flirt so much anymore, even if he couldn't help but eye a few women every now and then. He wasn't dating, after all, not uninterested in women.

She gave him a suspicious glower.

"No, really. I was told I should stop teasing the women because they were starting to be hostile toward each other." And that wasn't a lie; it was just a version of the truth that didn't involve Iris.

Zero hoped he could wrap this up soon, he was starting to lose his composure and he _did_ have a mission to finish. With Era as his Navigator. What a pain. But, if she was serious about making amends then he couldn't begrudge her for much longer.

"Era, look, I don't know if you actually believe me—" Which was okay because he didn't believe her either. "—But I have a mission waiting for me and if I don't get in that room soon, then…" Either Signas or Alia would have his hide.

Era hesitated for a moment before bobbing her head in acknowledgement. With a sigh of relief, Zero turned and entered the strategy room. A piercing gaze immediately focused on him. Signas gave him a look that was both stern and puzzled, and Zero couldn't blame him; he'd all but _begged_ for this mission and yet here he was, late. Zero just shook his head, freezing when the door opened up behind him and his Nav came in.

Era moved silently behind him as she went to take her place beside the other Navigators. Something like understanding crossed Signas' face, and, with that, the unspoken subject was dropped.

Zero was given a run-down of his mission again: C-rank, destroy a few dangerous mechaniloids, come back in one piece. Simple enough. Alia whispered good luck to him, but all that did was fill him with a sense of dread. He'd been so eager to get back out on the field, and yet, now he wasn't so excited anymore. What if he messed up again? What if he got someone else hurt? What if it really was the Virus acting up again, but only in the heat of a mission when he was too occupied with surviving to notice it? What if it reared its head again while he was rescuing—

_Let it go_.

Zero held back a groan as X's words came back to him, earning him a look askance from Alia. _I know, X_, he thought. _I know_.

X would kill him if he knew he was still worrying over this, or at least give him a disappointed look. Zero hated the disappointed stare, it was _piercing_. Not as much so as, say, X's saber, but it seemed like a close match at times—Well, no, that was dramatizing things. However, his conscience-X was right, he shouldn't be worrying so much before starting a mission. He needed to concentrate, to do well.

To Zero's vast surprise, Era preformed her job _properly_, and he didn't slip back into his anxious line of thought again. This proved to be a killer combo because he finished eradicating the mechaniloids in record time. Well, record time for anyone who wasn't Zero; for Zero this was merely average. It still pleased him anyway, so, after giving Era a somewhat curt thank-you, Zero left for his living quarters in high spirits.

_Axl_

It started with a foreboding message of _"I know what you did_". Axl had immediately run to X; he hadn't wanted to disturb the wounded unit, but Alia had left for work so he was the only one left. X had asked him what he'd done, and then muttered something about him probably deserving it. Axl protested that he did _not_ deserve to be brutally murdered by a psychopath, and X had responded by leveling him with a flat stare. He wouldn't find any help there, though X had said that, yes, he could hide under his bed if things got to be _that_ bad.

The gunner retreated to the living room then, creeping about as if expecting Zero to pop out of a shadow and tackle him. He locked the front door and peered out into the hall, waiting for his blond reaper. Axl waited there, tense and anxious, for thirty minute, an hour, two hour—just ten minutes? Really? X had always said he was impatient, but _geez_.

And then he saw him. Zero was furious; it was easy to tell by the blank, but somehow slightly peeved, look on his face, and the way he held his shoulders. And he was staring right at the door—at Axl? No, that was impossible; he was just watching the door, right?

It was a terrible thing to watch, like a lion mowing down a tiny gazelle—no, no, maybe not that terrible, he thought. But then he saw Zero's wrathful blue eyes and decided that maybe, just maybe, it _was_.

Zero tried the door, but nope, it wasn't letting him in. _Axl_ wasn't letting him in, he had self-preservation instincts—_good _self-preservation instincts, despite what X thought. Axl allowed himself a moment of relief as he watched Zero glare angrily at the door, having been thwarted in his attempts to take Axl's life. There was no way he could get in now, after all, Axl had—

The door slid open. A very un-manly scream came from Axl then. Though, if you asked him about the incident, he'd deny it and say it was _plenty_ masculine. Not that he was ashamed of it; the idea of an angry Zero was enough to make some grown units queasy, and Axl had an actual angry Zero out for his blood. He'd reacted pretty well, given the circumstances.

Then Zero appeared, nearly seven feet of rage and killer intent, glaring murderously down at him. Axl did the most logical thing he could think of and ran. Zero caught him quickly enough, one hand in an iron grip on the collar of his shirt while he squirmed and howled for assistance.

"Ahhhh! No! Bad Zero! Put me down! Help! Murder!"

"Shut up, you miscreant, you brought this on yourself!" He snarled, shaking him vigorously. Axl had, indeed, and he knew it.

"I've done nothing!" He protested loudly. "Besides, nothing is worth bringing Hell down on my head!"

"Oh _really_? Nothing? So, why did Era tell me that she knew I was dating X?"

Axl froze, mentally swearing, because, yes, that had been his fault. And then he burst into laughter as he registered exactly what Zero had said.

"She believed me?! And she said that? Was it in public?"

Zero's already displeased expression morphed into a snarl, causing Axl to freeze in terror. Okay, so maybe he'd brought that on himself. "Now, wait a minute, you wouldn't kill your buddy, right?"

The blond actually _growled_ at him and Axl recoiled nervously. "Why in the world would you tell her that?"

"Uh, because it's funny? Besides, it got the fangirls off your back for a bit!"

Zero paused, maybe because he was suddenly struck with gratitude—Axl fell to the floor with a thump, terror bubbling in his chest as he heard Zero's furious growl and felt something press on top of his back with crushing force. A saber lit up, Axl screamed again.

Then he heard the voice of an angel.

"Zero! Not on my rug, do you understand? And if I find so much as _one_ stain…."

He was so grateful that he was sorely tempted to kiss X. Except, then Zero would turn his own rumor against him, and he'd probably have _proof_. Axl tried to slink away while Zero was grumbling under his breath, upset at being scolded by X; but then, who wouldn't be? Despite his childish appearance, and his occasional behavior to match, X was the elder, and something like a parental figure to a lot of younger units.

"Hey!" Zero barked as he noticed his prey trying to slink away.

Axl yelped and ran, bolting for X's room. Zero stomped after him. "I'm not through with you, kid!"

By the time he arrived, Axl was already draped across X's lap with the older unit staring down at him like he'd suddenly sprouted another head. Zero growled at him again, like a feral wolf eager for his blood. Which he was. But, as if they were playing a game of hide-and-seek, X was "safe", and Zero didn't move to attack him.

"What in the world are you two doing?" X sighed, reaching up to gingerly rub the injured side of his face.

"Dishing out justice," Zero explained, eyes never leaving Axl. "So you're a lap dog now?"

"Yes," Axl said flatly. That was better than dead.

"Axl…." X groaned, clearly not in the mood for their antics.

"Is he hurting you?" Zero asked dangerously, and Axl had to bite back a yelp as his glare intensified.

"No. But can both of you behave, please? Axl, apologize and don't do it again, alright?"

The redhead grumbled and sat up, glaring at Zero from over X's head. "…..Fine. Even though it was hilarious, perfect, and _well-deserved_—"

"Axl."

"….Sorry. I won't do it again." Any time soon, at least. And that was the best Zero was going to get.

Zero stared him down for a few moments, utterly silent, waves of killer intent rolling off of him. And then he leaned over them. For a moment he was terrified he was going to get his head punched off, but, instead, he was on the receiving end of a relatively gentle whap on the head. He deserved it, yes, but boy was it worth it. He only wished he could have seen the look on Zero's face.

_Z_

Over the next few weeks, Zero took on increasingly difficult missions. Era maintained her status as a _good_ Navigator, but both Zero and Signas were reluctant to let her off for her previous behavior. The Supreme Commander often remarked that he was surprised he hadn't fired or demoted her yet. Zero felt like a cad for agreeing that she deserved it, especially given she seemed to be trying so hard to make it up to him and befriend him now. That sort of behavior just couldn't be tolerated, doubly so in this establishment.

Still, Zero eventually let his guard down around her, and she didn't stab him in the back for it. Her hard work to redeem herself was admirable, Zero had to admit, but he was still reluctant to accept her offers to go out. As friends, she insisted, but even then he usually denied her. And then he decided to try, just once. After all, he was bored.

Apparently she was a young unit, just over a year old, and a sniper model, much to his surprise. She also had some skill with a beam knife, though it didn't hold a candle to his saber. Era had been raised in a research facility, one run by Reploids, so that explained why she was a little more geared toward relationships than some of the other Hunters and Navs. Reploids pre-loaded with information—rather than learning as they aged, as X and a few others had—tended to be cooler and more machine like. But that was to be expected given they were usually the production line type, meant to be flung straight into whatever task they were built for. X was vehemently against this sort of treatment, arguing that they were sentient beings who needed at least some emotional guidance and nurturing to perform their best. It didn't look like it was a practice that was going to be dropped any time soon.

He liked Era, he decided. At least quite a bit than before; but he wasn't sure if he could date her. He was still incredibly peeved with her childish tantrum from before—as it had almost gotten him killed more than once, after all, he had a right to be angry. And then there was….

Zero grunted and shrugged off everyone's attempts to discuss Era with him, he almost always responded with "It's nothing." Or, "We're not together if that's what you want to know." He was almost afraid she'd blow up on him again, but she seemed to understand, frustrated as she was.

He saw less of Axl for about a week after attempting to kill the redhead, and then things were back to normal—minus X limping around like a pathetic, wounded duck. He was almost entirely better: He had full use of both hands now, and his right eye was only a little blurry now, the burns on his torso had healed as well. But his leg remained an issue. X's Lifesaver insisted that it would heal on its own without anything needing to be replaced, and X was content to meander around and get paperwork and personal things sorted out. So everyone was happy, if a little concerned still, and things were slowly settling back into normalcy.

Until Zero found out Era wasn't going to be able to Navigate for him anymore, at least not for a while. She'd caught a bug, apparently, and was to be reassigned once she was better. He was suddenly Nav-less and frustrated. He liked his missions, they were great stress relievers, but now he was being told he couldn't take missions anymore. Well, honestly, he wasn't, but he doubted he'd be let out in the field in a serious mission without a Nav.

To his surprise, the day after hearing the news he was given a somewhat challenging mission—a few nameless, low-ranked Mavericks that had holed themselves up in a small compound. And he apparently he had a replacement Navigator. Well, that was wonderful because that meant they'd gotten more transfers from over bases, right? They'd sorely needed some new Navs.

He was told to hurry, and so he teleported to the mission area without greeting his Navigator. He didn't even have any idea who they were as Alia hadn't told him as much as a name to go by. Well, that could be rectified soon enough, given how easy the mission was proving to be.

Zero's Navigator was very quiet, discreetly letting things drift over to Zero's HUD rather than blurting out warnings. It was both a relief and a little disconcerting, but Zero carried his mission with little issue—until he was about to enter the compound and confront the Mavericks. Then he heard a tense, verbal alert of "Above you."

Zero immediately looked up in spite of his was a lupine mechaniloid hurtling down toward him; despite his surprise, he was able to easily dispatch it. It might have been powerful ordinarily, but its dive left it wide open to his saber; it was soon lying on either side of him, split neatly in half.

The blond Hunter paused for a moment before pressing inside, muttering, "So this is what you're doing to keep yourself occupied these days?"

"I like making myself useful," X responded easily. "You don't sound pleased to hear me,, but you're not getting rid of me easily, Zero. And try to concentrate, you're on a mission, remember?"

Zero let his lips quirk into a sharp, fleeting grin. Era's sick leave was either going to be terrifying or stupidly fun.

_AN_

**AN: **We're actually pretty close to wrapping up this story, actually. Please tell me what you think, and if there's a fic in particular that you'd like to see me focus on next. Remember, reviews are awesome~


	8. An Expected Betrayal

Ars Moriendi

Chapter 8

An Expected Betrayal

_Z_

Zero sighed as he surveyed the tiny Mechaniloids below, darting around like lost ducklings. There really was no reason for him to be here anymore: The Mavericks had been dispatched, but he had to make sure he wasn't missing any dangerous Mechaniloids or objects.

"You're being moody again," his Navigator mused.

Of course he was moody.

"I want to be doing productive things, not sitting in a tree like a bird waiting for enemies that may or may not be here," Zero said testily. "Let some of the rookies clean up."

"You sound like a spoiled teenaged girl. You're not above menial labor, Zero," X stated, sounding amused. "You're vain enough to be a bird, though."

Zero sneered unhappily, though X wasn't around to see it. No, he was back at HQ settled comfortably in his little cubby hole staring at monitors, all nice and snug and safe. Zero could just see him now, leaning back in his chair with a mug of hot coffee, smirking like a smug little—

"Hey, hey, it's not like you to complain like this. Are you okay?"

Zero immediately felt embarrassed for his little rant, shaking his head as if to clear it of ill thoughts. He very nearly lost his balance and tumbled out of the tree, much to his alarm. "Yeah, X, I'm fine."

"….You're thinking guilty thoughts again, aren't you?" Zero resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. X could be such a mother hen at times.

"_No_."

"What is it then?"

"It's nothing, X, shut up and let me concentrate." He only felt a _little_ bad for snapping.

Zero could hear his Nav's annoyed huff, tinged with real disappointment. Oh, that didn't make him feel terrible at _all_.

They went through several moments of utter silence, with Zero focused more on his Nav than anything else, birds singing cheerily in nearby trees. If the birds were singing then surely there wasn't a threat around, right? But then, he wasn't so great at understanding what animals did, that was more X's department. X was quiet, and then:

"Zero?"

"Yeah?" Zero jerked upright, listening intently.

"If you don't want to get your face blown off, you should move."

Alarmed, Zero glanced around wildly and then spotted the threat down below. A medium-sized mechaniloid was peering up at him from below, its bobcat-like maw gaping as energy gathered between its jaws. He cursed at himself for missing the creature, camouflaged grey and green or not he should have done better.

Zero let himself tumble down the tree toward the mechaniloid, missing the blast by a fraction—something smelled singed. The bot tried to hop away from him, but firing its weapon had cost it precious seconds. The head bounced once as it hit the ground, jaws snapping tightly shut in reflex, and Zero knew that if anything had been between them it wouldn't have stayed in one piece for long.

He nudged it with his foot, sneering in disgust as it gave one spastic twitch before it fell entirely still. Given its stealth and strength, it would be useful if it could be recycled—as long as it wasn't infected, and it didn't _look_ like it was infected.

"Is your face still in one piece?" X chirped suddenly, causing him to blink as he remembered the other unit was there.

"Yes."

"Good. …What about your hair?"

Zero tamped down on the instinct to examine his ponytail; X was clearly teasing him now. He did have a sense of humor, despite what some of the rookies thought, and it was a _wicked_ thing. Unluckily for Zero, he was often the recipient of X's teasing.

"It's fine, too, X. I know you'd die of grief if something happened to my hair or face."

"Oh-ho, so you think there's some truth to the rumors, my blond friend?"

Zero snorted and sheathed his saber. "X, come on, you're cute, but in a little kid way."

"Oh, not you, too!" He'd heard that from more than one person, apparently.

"What? You're short and scrawny and you look like jailbait."

There was silence on the line for several moments, and Zero feared he'd gone a little far. And then he heard X's threat:

"I'm going to put salt in your coffee."

"You're not that evil, X." The brunet wouldn't touch his coffee, surely.

"You know me well enough to decide that yourself," X quipped slyly.

He honestly had no idea if X was agreeing with him or denying his claim. And X _could_ be quite evil when he wanted to be, most people could attest to that.

Zero made an odd, uncomfortable noise and adopted a serious mien as he wandered off to look for more mechaniloids. He was infuriatingly conscious of X's amused silence. How could X convey so much emotion through _silence_? It was like he could feel the older unit's smirk; perhaps it had something to do with knowing each other for so long.

He was ready to return to base, satisfied that every inch of the forest had been scoured for Mavericks and mechaniloids. But X interrupted him by finally speaking up again.

"So… about the girl…"

He almost snorted in amusement. "By 'girl' I assume you mean Era?"

"That one, yes."

"What about her?" Zero asked, voice tinged with wariness.

It was _X_, he had every right to be nervous when he got that _thinking_ tone in his voice. When X started thinking, bad things happened—not as bad as, say, when _Axl_ started thinking, but X actually had the ability to get things done without everything ending in a horrible fireball of failure. And, sometimes, that was even more frightening.

"I hear you're… talking, to her." Oh, he didn't like this.

"Yes," he responded slowly. "You heard that from me, remember?"

"Yes. I'm just curious as to why you're speaking to her after…. I don't trust her."

"Neither do I," Zero admitted, glancing around the clearing at the littered, sun-dappled mechaniloid remains.

"So why are you….?"

"To be perfectly honest, X? I'm not really sure." It was something that had confused him for a while.

Maybe he had just been lonely after X's bedridden days, and now he was too deeply entangled to simply _leave_ her and never speak to her again. Of course, since she'd fallen ill he hadn't seen her on the grounds that he was a valuable Hunter and couldn't afford to catch whatever bug she had. If he was lucky, Era would be transferred somewhere else and he wouldn't have to deal with that delicate situation ever again

"So, are you and her…?"

"No, X," Zero snapped, scowling even though X wasn't there to see his face.

"I didn't think so. Lighten up, you're being cranky."

"You're one to talk about being cranky, X. And Axl's been bugging me about… the situation already."

"He's not terrified of you anymore?" X asked carefully, not really sounding surprised. Axl made sure most of his meetings with Zero remained "supervised" by X, at least until Zero stopped growling under his breath at the gunner. "And, Zero? I think it's time you came back, now."

Zero gave an affronted snort. "I would have been back a long time ago had you not been talking my ear off."

"You can teleport and talk at the same time, Zero."

"Not if you intended to keep digging into my personal life." A thought occurred to him. "Hey, no one heard you ask about Era, right?"

"Zero, calm down, I know better than that."

"I know, X, I know," he snorted, amused at the offense in the older unit's tone. "You're nosy, not a gossip."

"You're not getting any pasta tonight, I hope you know."

Oh, had he struck a nerve? Zero grinned wickedly, glad X wasn't around to see it. X wasn't cruel enough to deprive him of food, Zero knew that much.

~X~

He did feed Zero some pasta that night, contrary to what he'd sworn earlier. He wasn't as grumpy as he pretended to be sometimes, and Zero knew that. Axl being smug after hearing of Zero's "punishment" had almost earned Zero Axl's portion as well.

After dinner, X and Zero lounged about in the den, half-heartedly watching TV and trying occasionally to carry out flagging conversations. They were both too comfortable to really talk; X looked like he was about to doze off, and Zero was content to watch the news. Such moments of peace and comfort used to be rare for him, but now they were blessedly common. X's living room, the scheme of which was mainly pale yellow with a little light blue, managed to appear both clean and comfortably lived in. No small feat, especially with Axl frequenting the area; Zero himself tended to be absentminded when it came to keeping tidy, though he did hate a mess.

There was cozy silence for a quarter of an hour, until a particularly loud noise from the TV startled X wide awake. He gave Zero an affronted look, and the blond sheepishly turned the volume down. X sighed in relief and yawned, slumping back against the soft plushness of his light blue recliner. Zero thought he was going to go to sleep again, but the brunet surprised him by announcing:

"I have some boxes I need to move out of the storage room. I hate to do it, but I really need to clean out everything that's unnecessary."

Zero eyed him warily. X hated getting rid of anything unless forced at saber-point; X's last attempt to get him to clean out some of Cain's old things had ended in utter disaster. This time—thank Asimov—he had an actual excuse.

"I've got an appointment with Signas in the morning, so I won't be able to help you with that, sorry." And that wasn't a lie; he really did have an appointment. Something about paperwork and a special mission, if he remembered correctly. He was intrigued by the later, the former? Not so much.

X eyed him with suspicion, clearly believing he might be trying to weasel out of the job. "Oh, that's alright. I'll manage, really."

"I'm afraid I'm going to find you in a mountain of rubble when I get back," Zero admitted, concealing a grin behind his usual expression. "You pack-rat."

"Nonsense, I'm well-adept at this by now—hey, this stuff has sentimental value!"

Zero snorted at X's verbal dodge. "Sure it does, X. You're just afraid you're going to do something you regret."

He always was when it came to throwing things out, and in other situations, of course. Zero didn't usually have that sort of foresight; sometimes he was grateful for that, but other times? He was just glad he had X around to add his own opinion otherwise he'd have been perma-dead years ago.

"Fine, fine," X waved a hand dramatically. "Go home. Leave me, I'll manage somehow."

Zero snorted and punched X lightly in the bicep. "Drama queen," he accused X as the brunet let out a little 'ow' of disapproval.

"I am not a drama queen," he protested. "Your love taps would tip a cow."

Zero pushed himself off the couch with some difficulty, not wanting to leave the soft warmth his body heat had generated. He stretched, not bothering to look back at X. "Yeah, yeah, you're tiny, I know. Good night, you cranky old man."

As Zero saw himself out, he was hit in the back of the head by a flying pillow.

~Alia~

Luck was with him that day, it seemed. Alia had the day off due to the presence of new Navs—thank Asimov—and her help had quickly been enlisted. The blond had adopted an expression of dismay as she surveyed the mess; it wasn't her first time seeing it, but seeing it and sorting it all were two different things. She gave X a disapproving look.

"Have you _ever_ cleaned this room out?"

X offered her a sheepish smile. "Yes, just not recently. Which is why I'm doing it now."

Alia made a sound that was somewhere between annoyance and amusement as he yanked the nearest box out into a clear spot. It was apparent were some of the mess had come from; the box was full of stuffed animals, most likely gifts from fans. X seemed to garner the most attention from the human masses, likely because he was the most human out of all of them.

X gestured for her to sit down beside him, and soon they were picking through the overflowing boxes, trying to determine the worth of every item they pulled out. It was arduous and unsurprisingly sentimental—especially since some of the people who'd sent the cards and stuffed animals were _dead_. Alia left what little belongings of Cain's and Light's there were to X: He didn't get rid of any of those, naturally.

By lunchtime, they'd gotten through almost a third of the boxes and had cleared up a substantial amount of space in the room. Alia insisted they get out and have lunch somewhere, and X reluctantly agreed. It was hard for him to snap out of something once he'd been doing it for a while, but lunch sounded enticing enough for him to go with little fuss. And it was definitely worth it, given how he lauded the sandwich she suggested he get; he was adorable when he got excited about food, absolutely adorable. Someone as old as he was shouldn't be allowed to be that cute, it wasn't right.

"You've got a strange look on your face, Alia," he stated, amused, catching her expression as stood. "What are you thinking about?"

She started and stood up with him, shouldering her purse. "Oh, just how many more boxes we have to go through."

"Oh," he blushed as he heard that, weaving around patrons. "I really should try to clean out before reaching the crisis-point."

"The crisis-point being boxes of junk up to your optics?" She asked wryly as he leaned on the door to open it for her.

He just sighed in embarrassment, but he was amused as well. "Maybe Zero's right and I am a hoarder."

"Zero's rarely right about that sort of thing," she insisted.

"True."

It became apparent that something was wrong the moment they entered the lobby of HQ. There was shouting, rookies skittering all over the place, exuding nervousness. Groups of Hunters were visible in the halls; Alia and X exchanged a puzzled, worried glance before edging forth to try to figure out what had happened. Had there been an attack? A botched mission?

Alia spied a familiar pink-haired Navigator and poked her insistently on the shoulder. The Reploid whirled around in surprise, recognition lighting up her violet eyes. "Alia! Commander X? Oh, thank goodness, we were worried you were in trouble!"

"What's going on here?" Alia demanded, shifting nervously beside X.

"A Maverick got into HQ," the Nav said quickly. "Well, not really got inside, she wasn't found out in time—she's barricaded herself in Commander Signas' office and…. She's got Commander Zero."

X wasn't sure if he was anxious or furious, but he had a sneaking suspicion. "It's that girl, isn't it?"

The pink-haired Nav gave him an uncomprehending look. "Her name is Era?"

X swore angrily. He _knew _that girl was bad news. Was all her attempt at befriending Zero just to lure him in close enough and catch him off-guard? Zero did _not_ deserve this, especially after Iris. Was her illness merely the first symptoms of the Virus coming forth? It must have been a new strain then, he realized, if the Lifesavers hadn't recognized it. Still, he wasn't at all surprised that she'd wound up hurting Zero again.

He only hoped Zero was equally unsurprised.

"I'm going to deal with her myself." If Zero didn't beat him to her, that is.

**AN:** I'm sorry this took so long to get out. I'm struggling with both flagging interest in this story and a horrid case of writer's block. Those two are an unholy matrimony, I swear. There's about a chapter left; the next fic is going to have much more attention paid to it, I promise. Oh, and I am working on other things as well. I'm actually working on a Final Fantasy X story, as well as some oneshots, and (infrequently) a Mega Man EXE collab. Please review if you can.


	9. Put It to Rest

Ars Moriendi

Chapter 9

Put It to Rest

**AN:** Apologies for this being so late, I've been focusing on a Final Fantasy X fic lately. And, I'd been meaning to really crack down on it on Friday, buuuut, well, I became an aunt last Friday and had to go see my niece, so I think you'll all forgive me.

He was going to _demand_ a raise after this. Signas could argue until he was blue in the face, but Zero honestly didn't think he could bring himself to care no matter how mucg his Commander argued against it. This was _supposed_ to have been an off day; he had to turn in some sensitive documents to Signas, wait to hear what the Commander had to say about his upcoming mission, and then he'd be free as a bird. Except he wasn't. Instead of relaxing at a beach somewhere, he was being held up in Signas' office by a madwoman with some sort of grudge against him, pacing around the room waving a beam knife.

Era was getting more and more unstable, and this current stunt of hers had him wondering, positive: She must have gone Maverick. Era's earlier behavior as his Nav should have been more than enough to get her transferred, or fired, or _detained_, but even with that in mind, angry or not, she should know better than to attack him this way.

Zero grimaced at that, ignoring her sudden shriek of outrage over something; he wasn't paying attention to her raving. She didn't like that he wasn't paying attention. He wasn't overly fond of her, but the idea of killing her wasn't appealing, not after knowing her for several weeks. And killing her definitely wasn't out of the question here. He might not have his saber or any other weapon, but he was still fully capable of killing her. Some Mavericks lost their rationality, and she certainly seemed like one of those, so the thought might not have occurred to her at all. It must be horrible, going Maverick; did the infected know they were falling to it? Was their consciousness still there at all? Or were they just animals hanging onto instinct, hate, and threadbare memories, scraps of personality data? Being kidnapped made him think like X, apparently. It was _unnerving_, not to mention unnatural given he preferred to _not_ think about that sort of thing, not with all the people he'd lost to the Virus. Not with his unique relationship to it.

He sighed and propped his elbow on Signas' desk, jamming his fist under his chin. This was the shoddiest kidnapping he'd ever seen, though he had to applaud her for getting the entire wing shut down, and for acquiring high-level mechaniloids who were _not_ listening to her. He wasn't even sure if they'd attack if any Hunters did manage to break through. They were impressive; he'd have to take one home with him tonight and have a look at it. Zero made a mental note to leave at least one of the mechaniloids in more or less one piece.

A boot promptly connected with his left shin. Zero grunted in surprise and glared up—only to be met by a furious red-eyed glower. Right, being held hostage by a crazy Maverick lady. How could he forget? Easily enough, judging by what had just happened. How long had he been spaced out to warrant her being offended by his lack of attention? Mavericks were strange, always ranting and gloating like comic book villains.

"What did you say?"

A spark of stupid, Maverick rage ignited in her dark eyes. She used to smile at him, he remembered that easily, but it had never seemed to reach her eyes. Maybe she really always had hated him—maybe she'd known she was turning Maverick. Did she blame him, in some perverse way, as being responsible for her fate? How had she even become infected? She was a Nav! She never went anywhere; she never interacted with the Hunters—except for him.

Zero squirmed in his seat as he realized that. Him? Had he done it? Had he really gone Maverick that day and tried to kill X? And then infected his own Navigator? A thousand possibilities revealed themselves, each more horrible than the last.

"I didn't hit you in the head; you have no reason to show me such disrespect."

"What makes you think you _deserve_ my _respect_, or my attention?" Zero scoffed, crossing his arms.

He wasn't afraid of her. Sure, she was wearing armor and he wasn't, and she had her beam knife—which she was admittedly not terrible at using—but he still wasn't afraid of her. Mavericks were stupid and reckless when they were as far gone as she was. How long _had_ she been infected anyway? Because she looked like she was in the final stages, where weaker Reploids devolved into smart animals and then died. X had once compared the disease to rabies, and he had to admit, the longer he was around to see it, and watch it change people, how it turned them, he agreed with the comparison.

The idea that he had been Maverick, more than once, and that he was the original carrier was more terrifying than he could properly process. Not just terrifying: Horrifying, repulsive. And to think that X had known and tried to befriend him anyway, knowing what he must have known, what Cain must have told him, even then. Maybe that was why he'd been so nervous when Zero had first known him. It wasn't because he was shy, it was because he knew he was standing within arm's reach of a blood-thirsty maniac.

"Do you know who I am?" She snarled, startling him out of his thoughts again.

He gave her an annoyed look, tired of being startled. She was almost as bad as X at snapping him out of his brooding—no, he was _not_ going to go there, he was _not_ going to compare X to a Maverick. Especially not this Maverick.

"You're the psychopath I got stuck with for a month because we were running low on Navigators," he answered blandly, giving her enough attention that she wouldn't snap and attack him.

Era growled at him, her white and teal armor flashing as she paced. She turned her back on him over and over again, and he was so tempted to leap and wring her neck. But he didn't, and he wasn't entirely sure why. If he didn't kill her, she might wound him—there was no way she could kill him—and then escape to rage a short-lived rampage that _might_ wind up killing someone. And yet, he waited.

"I suppose he didn't tell you about me, did he? A few months ago, during the attack at the mall? You killed my lover."

Oh, Light, not this. He'd heard this over and over again from units who'd lost mates to the Virus, but never from _another Maverick. _Had she been Maverick ever since she came here? Infected by her significant other? What sort of slow-building strain of Virus were they dealing with now, if that was the case? Zero felt his chest tighten at the thought of it; it never ceased changing and growing, twisting into more hideous forms every time they felt they were on top of it. It almost felt alive, spiteful, in its behavior.

What was he thinking? Viruses don't have consciousness, and they don't feel spite or glee, no matter what he thought. He was starting to sound like a character in one of those fantasy books X liked to read: Utterly ridiculous and easily excitable.

"He was a Maverick," Zero grunted, not really knowing who he was, but he'd been through the scenario often enough. He didn't want to know who he was, or what he'd been like, or how kind he'd been. Because he'd killed the thing he'd turned into, and it was always best for a Hunter's sanity if they knew as little as possible about the Mavericks they killed. "I didn't offline him just to spite you."

"He's still dead."

Oh, she was coherent now? This was unsettling, she was looking at him and speaking just as she had when she was sane— "So I'm going to kill you for it!" Her gleeful whisper cut his thoughts short.

Never mind that, she was just unstable. That happened sometimes with the infected, sad and unnerving as it was, moments of clarity. Sometimes they begged for mercy, something they demanded to be killed. Era was apparently so distraught over the loss of…. Whoever he'd been—he remembered a tall, humanoid Reploid with no combat abilities, had that been him? Zero sighed and crossed his arms again, leaning back in his seat as he tried to clear the images from his head. She hadn't even cuffed him, honestly, it was all just pathetic.

"Era, Maverick, whoever you are now, I'm a Hunter, as you may know. I target Mavericks in an attempt to keep people safe. That includes your boyfriend—whoever he was—and you."

How she gone undetected was the frightening thing! But, wait, she'd gotten sick…. A little bug, she'd assured him, and the Lifesaver unit had as well. Was the Virus evolving beyond recognition, or was the Lifesaver a traitor? Or infected, that sounded likely—terrible, but likely. And if he was still running around… Well, a Maverick Lifesaver still working in the Med wing was enough to give any unit nightmares.

Zero pretended to listen to her as he surveyed Signas' office. Sterile, white and grey, Spartan save the medals and awards on the wall. The Commander didn't even have pictures on his desk, not that that surprised him. Few units had family and even fewer lived long enough to form deep friendships. Most everyone Signas knew was dead, including his family.

He grunted some response to a question Era posed—something about how she should kill him, he thought—and tested the channels he'd established with X, Alia, and (grudgingly) Axl. Era had some sense, at least, because all of his attempts failed to get through, and of course Signas' office had some way to scramble and block, he just didn't know where the controls were. Well, no matter, he'd finish her off and then go out and tell everyone he was alright himself—

Zero froze, shock and anger warring in him as he registered her words, something about her drivel that struck a chord. "What…did you say?"

"That's right, that little incident with X? I did that," she repeated smugly.

_That day_. X. She'd nearly killed X; it had been her, not him. Stupid relief was all he could feel for a few moments, relief that he hadn't purposefully or accidentally killed X by dropping him, or not requesting passenger clearance. Then there was anger: Anger at her for doing something so horrible, and anger at himself for not thinking of it sooner. He should have suspected her from the beginning, but he was too wrapped up in guilt to see it.

"And then, of course, when that didn't work, I sought to crush your spirit in other ways," she continued, her voice the sickly sweet of false innocence. "Oh, those little rookies! So adorable, they believe everything you say about anyone, especially when you're a Navigator for the person of interest."

The rumors about him trying to kill X, the ones that had jumpstarted his anxieties and guilt, _Era_ had been behind those? And pity he'd once had for her was gone; whoever Era was, she'd been dead well before he met her. And all of her attempts—failed as they were—to befriend him were for what, then?

"So why did you grovel?" He ground out, trying to control himself so he didn't devolve into a fit of rage and start swearing every other word. He had to remain calm. "Why did you go through all that effort to try getting on my good side?"

She shrugged, pale auburn hair falling off her armored shoulders. She didn't even wear a helmet. "I was trying to make you let your guard down, but, to be honest, I was hoping you'd fall in love with me."

Zero almost wrinkled his nose in disgusted confusion. "_Why?"_ Was she so distraught over losing her boyfriend that she wanted his killer to replace him? It sounded like Maverick logic to him.

"Because I know about Iris, and I know it would have crushed you. Ah, but all my attempts to get through that thick hide of yours keep failing, it seems."

She smiled at him, a vicious, angry expression that looked more like she was baring her fangs at him. How had he ever thought she was pretty? All he wanted now was to rip her head from her shoulders and punt it from the highest point of HQ. She was pathetic. All he had to do was wait for her to turn and—X would be scolding him for his arrogance. Maybe she was just pretending to be incompetent? X did something similar sometimes during training, pretending to limp or favor one side, leaving a vulnerable spot wide open and then attacking him when he darted in to take advantage of it.

He knew he had to act quickly, she'd tire of ranting soon and—Era turned, watching him coolly as she drew her beam knife. "Pardon me; it's rude to leave a guest waiting, isn't it? Let's get down to business…"

~X~

Tiny mechaniloids swarmed around him every time they noticed him, ready to alert HQ if he was an unregistered intruder. But they knew it was him, Commander X, definitely not a Maverick, after a moment of scanning and went back to their cleaning, leaving him to continue squirming through the duct in an attempt to reach Signas' office. He was one of few Hunters who could actually fit in here, along with one or two Navs, engineers, and a serpentine Hunter whose name escaped him. X himself just barely fit, and he was beginning to understand the common human fear of claustrophobia.

It was a little dangerous in here—more than a little, really. Besides the relatively harmless ventilation system, these narrow shafts led to more touchy machinery, like the defense system, shields and weapons and scramblers. He didn't want to do anything the little mechaniloids would find aggressive or else he'd be fried, or knocked insensate until someone crawled up to retrieve him.

X's hand spasmed in an attempt to shake one of the little spidery mechaniloids from his right hand, shivering all over. It was silly for a war hero to be afraid of spiders, but those creepy little _legs_. There should be a law against anything having limbs like that; they were only acceptable on shrimp, and anything that wasn't a spider. Or a spider mechaniloid. Look at him, nervous of spiders—were there real, organic spiders in here, too? Oh, Light—Zero was being held hostage by a psychopath and he could only think about his fear of spiders. At least he was very nearly at Signas' office…. if he'd taken the right turn, that was. Or maybe some of the engineers had gotten through the locks, or maybe the elite Hunters had forced their way inside now. Which meant he'd be doing this for nothing.

X paused in his progress as he encountered another detour, one with sizeable nook full of important-looking machinery. This was it. This was right over Signas' office, the source of the barriers and locks keeping them from getting to Era. Good, now he could just ease inside and begin emergency override, and then he'd crawl back out and be the last person to make it to the office. He'd never get his hands on her, would he? What was he saying, Zero would probably have her in pieces the moment she was off-guard. He input the code Signas had given him, effectively undoing some of the mess Era had caused, then slowly began to turn back around. X paused in shock as he turned to find a relatively large spiderbot staring at him, as if daring him to do something irregular: X merely backpedaled in surprise.

….The access tunnel mechaniloids should be bats, not spiders, but that wasn't up to him to decide, unfor—the floor fell out from under him. Too shocked to cry out, X tumbled out of the access tunnel and fell flat onto something simultaneously soft and hard, something that grunted in surprise. X fought the instinct to get up and fight, and the one that wanted him to stay still in case he'd damaged something. The thing—person, he'd landed on shifted and spoke in a tone that was so incredulous X almost started laughing.

"Did you just fall from the _ceiling_?"

X lifted his head, looking around in alarm. Zero. He'd fallen on top of _Zero_, who was still in Signas' office. Why hadn't he been murdered by Era yet? His eyes landed on the heap of white and teal at the foot of Signas' desk, pale red hair draped across her face and shoulders, almost obscuring the blackened hole in her chest, too small to be from Zero's saber. Ah, that was why.

"Yes, Zero," X grunted as he sat up, rubbing his head. "I fell out of the ceiling. I don't know _how_, given that access tunnel is supposed to be nearly indestructible."

Zero wordlessly pointed upward. X followed his direction and….. the hatch was open. "Oh. Can we blame Signas for that, or is it Era's fault?"

"Probably her fault; I could see her leaving it unlocked. She was beyond logic and reason, you should have seen her—she made every rookie mistake I could imagine."

"And yet she managed to kidnap you the moment Signas stepped out, and close the two of you off from the rest of us," X pointed out dryly.

Zero had the grace to look embarrassed even if he did sneer in response to the light scolding. "Do I need to bring up the incidents leading to the first Uprising? Because I will."

"You know better than to talk about that," X said slowly, green optics gleaming with something that definitely wasn't amusement. "I was a newbie."

"We were all newbies once," Zero agreed amiably. "But most of us weren't as stupid as you—"

The door slid open, revealing a hallway full of Hunters with a slightly annoyed Signas and a vibrating Axl at the fore. The Commander's gaze landed on the body in front of his desk, then shifted to the two Hunters who were slowly getting to their feet.

"It's good to see the two of you unharmed," Signas said, watching them closely to see if they really were uninjured. "What happened? X, you did a good job disabling defenses, but you're supposed to be back with Alia by now."

X wordlessly pointed at the hatch overhead, still swinging loose. Maybe if Signas upgraded to a sliding hatch this wouldn't have happened, and there wouldn't be risk of random engineers falling into the Commander's office. He had to wonder if this was the first time such an incident had occurred because Signas' expression was more annoyed than worried, but then, Signas was perpetually annoyed. Not that he could blame the younger unit.

Axl growled as he stepped forth, glaring at them both. "We thought you were in trouble!"

X noted with some amusement that Axl's hair was wet. "Axl? Did you run out of the shower to help Zero?"

The redhead glanced back at the other Hunters who milled around until Signas gestured for them to leave with a dismissive wave. "No."

Zero rolled his eyes, watching as Er—the Maverick's body was removed. He hated her, but he still felt…. Not remorseful, but uncomfortable at the prospect of her death. He had known her after all; she wasn't some nameless Maverick that he'd only brushed past in the hall.

"Zero," Signas called, snapping him back into reality. "Come here and give me an account of what happened. I left the room to get coffee and….?"

"Era happened."

X gave Signas a sympathetic look as Zero recounted how he'd been able to take the knife from her grasp with little difficulty, and then revealed what she'd said. The brunet shifted uncomfortably as Zero spoke. He'd known he never liked Era, but… to know she'd tried to have him killed? And that she'd been Maverick this entire time? Who else was infected, or was the not contagious?

X met Zero's gaze, and then Signas', and he knew it was going to be a _long_ night.

-X-

And it was a long night. X had ushered Zero back home after they'd debriefed, with Axl trailing along after them like a duckling, hovering around Zero with suspicious subtlety as X made them coffee. The redhead watched X bring Zero his mug, smirking as if he'd just thought up something that would make X cringe.

"Run into any Mavericks in there?"

Zero groaned in dismay, prompting Axl to add: "Coffee's dangerous. Attracts Mavericks."

The blond snarled something at the smaller unit, and X quietly suggested that Axl go home and finish his shower, or whatever else he'd been doing before he got the alert. The redhead stalled, either trying to annoy them or genuinely worried about Zero; X suspected it was both. But he did finally leave, and Zero sighed at his absence.

X sat down in the recliner opposite him, sipping his cocoa. "Well, we've had an exciting day, haven't we?"

Zero grunted ill-temperedly and tested his coffee. "I'm going to have bruises from head to foot tomorrow, and they _won't_ be from the Maverick."

X smiled apologetically. "If it makes you feel better, your knee drove into my stomach and now it hurts to laugh or breathe."

"Don't breathe then," the blond said, a little more sharply than he'd meant it to sound if his wince was anything to go by. "You're a Reploid, not a human."

X tilted his head, considering the swirls of lighter brown where the milk and cocoa wouldn't mix properly. "Isn't human a little more complicated than just being organic and able to speak?"

Dark blue eyes fixed on his with a mix of wariness and sternness. "X, I'm not in the mood for one of your philosophy lectures, alright?"

X nodded, trying not to smile again. He wanted to ask Zero a lot of things: If he was okay, how he felt about Era's death, if she'd injured him. He wanted to try to cheer him up by telling him Lifesaver had cleared him for active duty at long last. But he didn't say anything. Zero wanted peace, he could tell by the look on his face: Zero just wanted to relax and not have to think for a few moments. He wanted rest. So X would indulge him.

"Zero?"

The blond faced him with a weary expression, expecting to be interrogated. "Yes, X?"

"Drink your coffee before it gets cold."

Everything else could wait until tomorrow. For now, all their anxieties were put to rest.

—

**AN: **(I apologize for any mistakes, this was a little rushed given I'm three weeks behind schedule, trying to clean, and trying to finish up some coursework.)

I started Ars Moriendi over two years ago now. It was originally meant to be a 2-3 shot little slice of life thing. The slice of life aspect didn't change, but the original plot was lost during spring cleaning one day, and some personal ordeals delayed my progress in writing _anything_. And so, this once-tiny little fic underwent some evolution: It was going to be an epic, then mid-sized, then my inspiration abandoned me altogether when I realized I didn't have enough material or plot to continue on. And so, this is the end of one of my weaker works. I admit I wasn't very invested in it; I felt I could give my readers much more interesting, longer fics.

I went through several notebooks and found more fics (ones that actually have plots) and oneshots than I remember working on, so expect those at some point. I'm revising "Unlaced", and writing new chapters for "Dreamer" as well as another Classic/X crossover fic and a Final Fantasy X fic that's proving to be massive. And those are exactly what I'm going to start working on now! (I may post on my profile how each fic is doing, so keep an eye out.)


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